


A Red Demon with a Silver Streak

by Runeb19



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-11-29 06:42:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 32,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11435307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Runeb19/pseuds/Runeb19
Summary: When Zabuza, always looking for a leg up in the world, catches wind of big Mist ANBU op in the undertaking, he decides he's up for some 'retrieval of precious goods.' What he finds at the scene, and what he does, will change the Shinobi world forever.





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_"Obito."_

_"Huh? What is it, Madara?"_

_"Before you go…"_

_Obito turned around. Madara was staring at him. Their eyes met, and the Rinnegan seemed to bore into him. For second, he could've sworn everything blurred, but dismissed it as his imagination._

_"Never mind. You should go."_

_"Uh, alright. Thanks for everything!"_

_He turned his back on his old savior and ran up the cave path. He'd have to return and thank him sometime._

_Whatever his name was._

* * *

Zabuza was careful to keep himself hidden as he ran parallel to the troop of Kiri ANBU. There was bound to be at least one sensor-type in the group, and even though they wouldn't be looking for Zabuza, that didn't mean they wouldn't be on alert. He was quickly beginning to realize that the operation he had stumbled on was much larger than he had originally realized. It didn't bother him-the more ANBU being sent after the goods, the more valuable they had to be. In the end, he wasn't concerned. He was confident in his skills, and it's not like anyone would see him coming. 'Accidents' did tend to happen on missions like these. Somebody falls, they don't send enough troops…tragedies, to be sure. It would just so happen that whoever stole the goods in the first place was a really good swordsman.

The ANBU squad didn't even pause when they breached the tree line, rushing right out into the open without a care. Zabuza, for once, was a little more cautious, crouching behind a bush and surveying the clearing. He might be one of the strongest young Shinobi in Kirigakure, but that didn't mean he could take on a dozen ANBU blindly. He could see flashes of Jutsu, hear cries of pain as the ANBU fell back, and the distinctive crackle of lightning Ninjutsu. Whoever was fighting these ANBU was good, especially with the ability to use that much lightning continuously. Slowly, making sure to muffle his movements and keep his Chakra under wraps, he moved forward.

He could see flashes of blue throughout the fog. The natural obscuring conditions were welcome, as he didn't have to create the fog itself. The fighting was also intense-the opponent had to be high-level, enough to merit this level of ANBU attention. His best bet was to get close enough to see the goods, then take out the thief before he realized he was there. He could do it. People died all the time. Death was easy.

Only...something was off. Wrong. The way they were all fighting, yelling in the distance. A girl's voice? What would a-oh you have got to be kidding me. He had come all the way out here, risked trailing an ANBU squad, all for some valuable loot, and they'd been fighting over a girl!? He'd just gotten close enough to see, and yes, a girl, about his age. What a waste of fucking time! Probably the daughter of some lord or Daimyo or something. He could hear the crackling of lightning Chakra again, and watched as one of the ANBU closed in behind her. He could guess how this was going to end, and he didn't feel the need to sit around and-wait, what was she doing?

* * *

Kakashi could see the ANBU closing in behind Rin. She was, evidently, terrified by the whole show-she wasn't a combat-type Shinobi, but she knew how to defend herself. Why she wasn't, he didn't know, but he had made a promise to protect her. And damn it, he'd keep this one. He charged forward, his Chidori flaring with power, aimed directly at the Kiri Shinobi, and-

What happened next was a blur of movement. He thought he saw Rin move, and then a massive sword cleaved the air between them, planting itself firmly in the ground. He diverted, losing control of his charge and crashing into the ground, his Chidori dying in his hand and he skidded across the wet mud. He heard a grunt, and saw the ANBU he'd been attacking go flying.

_What? What just happened!?_

He staggered to his feet, shaking his head to clear it. The moment the world stopped moving around him, he hurried back to Rin, as he heard steel clashing on steel. The man who had intercepted him was fending off two other Mist ANBU. He looked to be near Kakashi and Rin's age, though the-bandages? -he had covering most of his face made it hard to tell. As Kakashi watched, he sidestepped one of the ANBU's kunai throws, before stepping in and cleaving the man diagonally downward. The ANBU shrieked in pain, before the swordsman stepped in and knocked him back with a pommel strike. He turned to engage the second ANBU, but Kakashi's kunai caught the Kiri Shinobi in the shoulder, causing him to stagger backwards in pain. The swordsman shot Kakashi a curious look over his shoulder, but turned back and finished off the ANBU, planting his sword in the ground and turning to survey the young Konoha Shinobi as he walked over.

"I didn't need help," He said lightly when Kakashi came into range. Kakashi snorted.

"Neither did I. Yet you certainly intervened," The man cocked his head, studying him for a moment.

"I'd have thought someone with an eye like that," he said pointedly, "would have seen what happened."

Kakashi closed his eye for a moment, thinking back, and then opened his normal eye, his Sharingan staying closed.

"Rin…what were you doing?" Tears had filled her eyes, and were rapidly beginning to run down her cheeks.

"Kakashi," she sobbed. "I can't-I can't go back to the village. And I know that you'll take me regardless of what I say so, I- I, I-"

"So you jumped in front of my Chidori? That's what your plan was!? To force me to kill you!?"

Rin seemed to be trying to fight back her tears. "You don't-you don't understand. You won't understand, even if I explain! It's not fair, but I will not be responsible for harming the village!"

They were interrupted by a loud thump in the distance, as though something had just fallen out of the sky. The Kiri Shinobi's sword was up and in his hand in an instant, ready for the next attacker. Kakashi and Rin also turned toward the noise, Kakashi drawing a short sword from his back.

"We'll talk about this after we-"

"Rin? Kakashi!"

They froze, stock still, as the pounding of footsteps gradually grew nearer. The Kiri Shinobi looked at the two, eyes glancing to the insignia on Kakashi's headband. Rin's mouth was hanging open, frozen in place. The fog was still thick, and he could just make out the footsteps passing them.

"Hey!" The swordsman barked, and he heard the footsteps skid to a halt, before they started coming closer. Out of the fog ran a boy, in what looked to be wearing nothing but some torn shorts and a robe.

"Rin! Kakashi!" He exclaimed again, excitement plastered all over a boyish face.

"Is…this…some kind of…Genjutsu?" Rin asked, trembling.

"What? No!" The boy who looked like Obito said. He paused, closing and reopening his right eye to reveal a Sharingan. "See!? I've got the matching one!" The swrodsman looked over at Kakashi, as he slowly reopened his Sharingan as well.

"He's…real…" Kakashi said in amazement. After a second pause, Rin ran over, throwing her arms around Obito and sobbing. He awkwardly put his arms around her, though he looked pleased.

"I…suppose you guys saw me get buried alive…huh?" He was red-faced as he looked over Rin's shoulder, and met Kakashi's gaze. "At least it fits you."

Kakashi shook his head. "Figures you'd just pop up out of the blue like this. You know, everyone thinks you're dead, right? Your name is on the war memorial!"

Rin pulled back, rubbing at her eyes and sniffing. "I don't think anyone will be sad if we have to take a name off of it," She said, the faintest hint of reproach in her voice.

Obito laughed nervously, and gave the Kiri Shinobi a cautious stare. "So…uh…who's this? My replacement?"

The man in question was nearly a full head taller than Obito, and made a point of glaring down at him. "No." Obito seemed to shrink slightly at the menace in his voice. The man glanced over at Kakashi. "Maybe move out of the ANBU battleground before doing any more catching up?"

"Uh…right," Kakashi said, coming back to the situation at hand. "We'll probably need to put a fair bit of distance between us and them before it'll be safe to talk."

"Kakashi..." Rin began, but Kakashi held up a hand, cutting her off.

"We'll talk about it later," Obito looked back and forth between them, confused, but Kakashi was clearly taking charge. "We'll have time for explanations later, Obito. We need to move," Obito nodded, and after Kakashi got his bearing, he took off, the rest of them following behind.

* * *

"Well?"

"There's definitely still some trackers moving around," Rin said quietly.

The backup from Kirigakure had arrived faster than expected, and they'd spent the better part of a day and a half evading pursuit now. They were wearing down fast. Kakashi was already drained from the fight with the ANBU, and Zabuza-as the swordsman had introduced himself-had ended up taking charge of directing them, as Obito apparently had absolutely no idea where they were. Resistance was heaviest along the way to the Land of Fire, which was hardly surprising. They'd been essentially traveling parallel to the border, as much as that was possible. Zabuza still wasn't sure what they were going to do, but escaping the ANBU came first, regardless.

"They sure are determined," Obito whispered. "Why? What are they after?" Both Kakashi and Zabuza looked at Rin who looked down. "Rin?"

"I caught wind of a big assignment," Zabuza said, making sure to keep his voice down. "Labeled as 'retrieval of precious goods.' Figured it'd be money or treasure or something…anything I could use or sell. Not sure how a Konoha kunoichi fits into that description."

"I…they…" Rin took a deep breath and said, her voice trembling, "They…sealed a…a tailed beast. In me."

"Like…like one of THE Tailed Beasts?" Obito asked, eyes wide. Rin placed a hand on her stomach, likely where the seal was, and nodded.

"That's what you were so worried about?" Kakashi asked. "Sensei's wife is a Jinchuriki too! The village knows how to handle one!"

But Rin shook her head. "That's not-that's not all they did."

"There's no way Kirigakure would make a Jinchuriki without putting some kind of fail-safe in," Zabuza spoke up, eyes locked on Rin, who nodded slowly.

"The moment I set foot in Konoha, the seal will release and set the Tailed Beast free to attack the village. I'd-I'd die anyway, and so would a lot of other people. That's why…" She trailed off, looking at Kakashi, tears starting to form in her eyes. Kakashi looked back, at a loss. It was Obito who broke the silence.

"Well-we can just find someone to undo that part of the seal!" They looked at him. "I mean, it wouldn't be an integral part of the seal, right? Even if it was directly written on, it still wouldn't be part of the base, so somebody who was really good with seal work could still erase it safely. Right?" He looked around at the three of them, uncertainly. "And…if it wasn't part of the actual seal and was written elsewhere it'd be even…easier…wouldn't it?"

Zabuza and Kakashi exchanged a glance. "It's not a terrible idea." The Mist Shinobi grunted. Kakashi nodded in agreement.

"It's not, just…how do you know that, Obito?"

Obito turned red. "Kushina tried to teach me about seals…I guess it just stuck."

"Hmph. Kushina's lessons always seemed to stick more than Minato-Sensei's for you," Rin said.

"Wh-what!? No-no, Rin, it's not like that!"

"Sure it's not," She replied, but her face betrayed her mood. Quieter, she asked, "Do you…do you guys really think it's possible? That I can get that part of the seal removed?"

"Yeah," Kakashi said. "But not if we get caught by the ANBU. You two wait here, we'll go scout," Zabuza raised an eyebrow at the implied command, but followed Kakashi out of their little shelter, curious. They walked several feet away before Kakashi stopped, and turned to face him.

"What's in this for you?"

Zabuza crossed his arms, looking down at him. "You've got a lot of attitude for someone so short."

"Don't dodge the question. And don't pretend you're just doing this out of the goodness of your heart."

Zabuza smirked beneath his mask. "I don't have any of that anyway."

"I guessed."

"Ooh, you do have a lot of attitude."

"Zabuza! Answer me."

"The angrier you get, the more fun I have not answering you." Kakashi's eye narrowed, and Zabuza raised his hands in mock surrender. "Fine, fine. Don't want to anger the short silver dog."

"What the hell is that-"

"Or maybe I should call you White Fang Jr.?" Kakashi broke off, staring at Zabuza in bewilderment.

"How do you know that?" He asked, his voice lowering to a dangerous level.

"Oh, come on Kakashi. I think we both know a fair bit about each other, even if we only just met," He pointed at his sword. "Take a guess."

"…You're the Demon of the Hidden Mist."

"And we have a winner! Only fitting for one of the youngest Jounin of the Hidden Leaf. Deductive reasoning is so important for a shinobi," Kakashi's hand strayed to his kunai pouch, and Zabuza snorted. "You don't want to start a fight with me, Kakashi. Out here, that wouldn't end well for anyone. Besides, I'll answer your question. As I see it, I'm in a group with two Sharingan wielders-even if you both just have one-and a walking, smiling bomb of raw power. There's a lot more potential for growth in a group like that than anyone I worked with back in Kirigakure. I'm not too fond of the place anyway."

"That doesn't explain why you're risking your life to help us."

"I'm sorry, but of the 4 of us, who was trained in Kiri tracking techniques? I'm standing to gain a great deal more than it's possible for me to lose by traveling with you lot. Especially if we end up going to some old sage's place."

Kakashi slowly nodded, digesting his explanation. They were silent for a moment, before, with an air of one who is closing the topic, Kakashi said, simply, "You saved Rin."

Zabuza cocked his head to one side, looking at Kakashi. "Suppose I did."

"…thank you."

"What was that? Didn't quite make it out."

"Go fuck yourself, I'm not saying it again."

"More along the lines of what I was expecting. Now, I suppose we should actually do something about the trackers?"

"Got any idea? You said you've studied their techniques."

Zabuza thought for a moment. "Normally I'd just use the Kirigakure no Jutsu, but the Kiri ANBU would move through it better than you all would. Best plan I'd have is you all wait here and let me go kill a couple. Make a hole in the net."

Kakashi stared at him, and Zabuza guessed his mouth was hanging open. "Those…those are ANBU trackers we're talking about."

"And I'm probably the best silent killer in Kirigakure. You asked me for a plan, there it is. Got a better one?"

There was a moment of quiet, before Kakashi took a deep breath, set his shoulders, and said, "Yeah, I do."

"Well?"

"We go and open and kill a few to open a hole in the net."

Zabuza grinned under his mask and clapped Kakashi on the shoulder. "You and I are gonna get along just fine."

* * *

Zabuza was taking two of them, and Kakashi was only taking one, and it was not up for debate.

Or at least, it shouldn't be, but Kakashi wasn't buying it.

"Only three? We need time to get away, not just an hour to catch our breath."

"Once again, I am the Kiri Shinobi here. ANBU trackers are overconfident, and there's only so many out here. If we take out two of the trackers and their message runner, it might well be hours before anyone reports anything. We take all-not most, all-of that time to distance ourselves, and we make sure to cover our tracks. Poof. We've disappeared."

"It's never that simple."

"Killing people is pretty goddamn simple. You spill some blood, their heart stops, we all move on with our lives," Zabuza paused. "Well, except them. Obviously."

"Obviously," Kakashi said in disgust. Zabuza's callous disregard of others' lives irked him. Yes, killing was necessary, but that didn't mean it was fun.

"Look, maybe Konoha likes to make everything difficult, but this doesn't have to be. I'm better at silent killing, so I'll take a tracker and the runner, and you'll take the other tracker. That girl even pinpointed where they were."

"And Rin said they were high-level too. We'd have a hard time taking them head-on, let alone sneak up on professionals like that."

Zabuza sighed. If it was just the two of them, Zabuza was confident they could simply leave. Kick up a fog, maybe, and run right between the trackers. They both knew how to conceal their presence, and while Kakashi's silent movement couldn't compare to Zabuza's, it'd be enough to avoid detection if they were careful. It was Rin and Obito, his teammates, that were the problem. To make sure they got through without getting in a fight, they had to kill the nearby trackers. For killing the trackers to mean anything, they had to get their runner as well.

"You're a Shinobi," Zabuza hissed. "Stop being so scared."

"I'm not-"

"I know how to read people, Kakashi! Maybe not as well as you with your Sharingan, but it was part of my training too. All 3 of you are scared," He crossed his arms, fixing Kakashi with a glare. "That's not strange, all things considered. But if you want to be a leader and take charge, you can't be scared. You don't get that luxury. If you want to be scared, step down and let me take care of this myself."

Kakashi looked away. Zabuza was right, and he knew it. He'd heard of Kakashi before-his father, his status as the youngest Jounin of Konohagakure-he probably had a hard upbringing, even if there was no way it compared to his. There was so much similar between them-it was up to Kakashi to decide quite how much.

Kakashi took a deep breath, and looked back at him. "Got any tricks for silent movement?"

* * *

Kakashi kept his breathing even, his hands steady. He'd killed people before, but that was always in combat. In the heat of the battle, where it was one of them or the other. Self-defense, really.

This was different.

It was necessary. He understood that. But this was essentially assassination-ROOT work, not a Jounin's tasks. Even if Kakashi got into ANBU, like he wanted, he'd likely never have to kill like this. Shame he didn't have a choice.

Zabuza had insisted on going over Kakashi's silent moving technique, to see how it matched up to his, until Kakashi had just pointed out that he could use the Sharingan to simply copy Zabuza's movement. It had worked, too, much to Zabuza's annoyance. It wasn't the first time Kakashi had seen that kind of annoyance-someone who had spent years mastering a technique only to have him come along and be able to get it in one go. Still, as they had moved through the trees, Kakashi had noted Zabuza's silent movement skills still surpassed his. The difference between Konoha's and Kiri's hidden movement techniques were slight, but in an op like this, the difference could be huge. The Silent movement Zabuza had shown him used Chakra to displace the impact of each step or jump, spreading it out throughout the surface of whatever they were walking on, making no noise per impact. The style Kakashi had been taught simply used Chakra to absorb the impact. If they were approaching on the ground, Konoha's style might work better, as there'd be fewer vibrations for the trackers to feel, but moving between unconnected trees meant that any sound, even minute ones, were more important to keep under wraps.

He spotted his target easily enough. He might have been concealed from the ground, but standing above him, it didn't look like he was trying to conceal himself at all, sitting on a pile of leafy branches. His sword was already drawn and in his hand, not wanting to risk the noise of drawing it.

Zabuza had refused to explain how he managed silent movement while wearing that massive sword on his back.

He was almost directly above the tracker now. It'd be simple-he just had to fall, freely. He'd land right on top of the tracker, and momentum and his sword would do the rest of the work.

But he wasn't. He was just standing there, staring down at the tracker. His Sharingan was analyzing every movement, breath, heartbeat of the tracker. In combat, that all blurred together, so that he wasn't even conscious of it, but now, with no other distractions, he could analyze the tracker in uncomfortable detail. He'd never spent so long looking at someone with the Sharingan.

The tracker was a man of slight build, probably a little under Zabuza's height, though he looked to be fully grown, unlike the 4 Shinobi he was tracking. He was probably a good 6-7 years older than them, in his early to mid-twenties. He had light skin and brown hair, kept up by a Kiri headband that been tied just a little loosely, so that a sudden impact might cause it to fall off. It wouldn't do its proper job in a battle. He seemed calm enough, likely because he hadn't been given many details on who he was supposed to be finding-kids wouldn't bring concern to anyone. He couldn't see his eyes from here-that, at least, he was grateful for. By all accounts, this was simply a young, overconfident Kiri Shinobi who thought he was out for a simple assignment. What did it matter that Kakashi was younger? It didn't mean this Shinobi didn't have family, or a future, or friends. Maybe a lover, or dependent, or-

This was a job for an assassin. Not a Shinobi. Zabuza, callous killer that he was, might be able to just strike down whoever he felt like, but that wasn't what a real Shinobi did. It wasn't what Konoha trained them to do, and it wasn't what Kakashi would ever condone.

Only…this wasn't a job. Wasn't something he had chosen to do. This was a necessary act, something he had to do to keep his friends safe. To get Rin out of Kiri and eventually, back to Konoha, alive. To keep the miraculously restored Obito around, for good this time. To fight for what he had promised Obito and himself that he would fight for above everything else.

His feet left the branch. Seconds later, his blade pierced directly through the Kiri tracker's heart. He released his hold and jumped backwards, landing on a branch on the next tree over, the blade still embedded in the Kiri-Nin. There was nothing identifiable on it. He didn't want to use it anymore, anyway.

He felt, rather than heard, Zabuza land beside him.

"The longer you wait to do it," The man said quietly, "The harder it is to do. Most killers seize up, get paralyzed on their first kill. That's why Kirigakure had their entrance exam set up the way they did." Zabuza rested a hand on Kakashi's shoulder. "Nothings good about doing something in cold blood. If there is a next time-just get it over with. Don't take time to think about it." Kakashi was unsure how to respond to this unexpected showing of Zabuza's humanity. It almost seemed like he was trying to comfort him. He stood up, drawing breath to speak-and then everyone began blurring and spinning, and he was falling. He heard Zabuza curse, and then everything plunged into darkness.

* * *

He awoke to the sound of a crackling fire, and the low hum of medical Ninjutsu. He cracked open his good eye to see Rin kneeling beside him. She caught his gaze and smiled, before looking away from him.

"He's awake."

"'Bout time!" That was Obito's voice-which meant what happened hadn't been a dream.

"What happened?" He asked groggily, attempting to sit up. Rin gently pushed him back down, and as his field of vision widened he could see Obito walking over to them, Zabuza sitting on a log beside the campfire.

"You passed out." Obito said helpfully. Kakashi groaned.

"I guess I'm back to putting up with that." Obito grinned, and Kakashi couldn't bring himself to really be mad.

"Chakra depletion." Rin said. "You've been pushing yourself too much these past couple of days."

"If the Sharingan consumes that much Chakra, why did you have it going the whole time?" Zabuza asked from where he was sitting. Kakashi didn't have an answer, and just focused on his breathing while Rin healed him.

And then he realized something was very wrong.

"Wait- _where's my mask!?_ "

"Ah." Rin said, her cheeks turning pink. "Well, the thing is, Zabuza didn't know why you passed out, and he had to make sure you were still breathing and…uh…we thought putting it back on would be…awkward…" She gradually tailed off, and held out the mask to him. Kakashi grabbed at it weakly, and Obito took it from Rin before he grabbed it.

"Obito, give me that mask or they won't need to take your name off of the memorial!"

"Say please~"

"Obito…" Kakashi growled.

"I said say please-ouch!" Zabuza's fist had come down on top of Obito's head, and while the young Uchiha was stunned, he snatched the mask from him and dropped it in Kakashi's lap. His cheeks burning, Kakashi hurriedly put the mask on and pulled it back up.

"Thanks," He mumbled as Zabuza stared at him, eyebrow raised.

"Do you just wear the mask because you're bad at hiding your emotions?"

He felt his cheeks burn even more, and was thankful for moment that no one could see, before realizing that just proved Zabuza's point. He was saved from answering by Obito leaping up, hand reaching for the bandages covering Zabuza's face, apparently intent on seeing both of them unmasked in one day. Zabuza caught his arm and tossed him away effortlessly, sending him sailing over the fire and rolling in the dirt on the far side.

Obito's voice came wavering over to them. "Ok then…"

Zabuza turned his attention to Rin. "How long before he can move?"

Rin considered for a moment. "Probably an hour or two, though it'll be days before he can properly fight."

Kakashi looked at Rin in surprise. "Really? That's pretty fast, all things considered."

She smiled at him. "I have a lot more Chakra to draw on now, don't I?"

Obito had walked back over to them, and Zabuza spoke.

"There's a village not far from here. I'm gonna head over there and send a report back to Kirigakure. Say something came up and that I have a mission."

"Will that work?" Obito asked doubtfully. Zabuza shrugged.

"Not the first time I've done it. And it won't change anything we do, one way or the other. Might as well send it," He glanced at Rin. "Suppose I might as well ask if anyone down there knows anything about seal work, though I doubt it."

"Thank you," Rin said quietly, and Zabuza held up a hand in a 'don't mention it' kind of movement.

"Now that we have a chance to catch our breaths, I'd just as well be gone for the tearful reunion." He couldn't quite keep the mocking note out of his voice, and he turned away from them and walked out of the campsite without another word.

* * *

_What the hell am I doing?_

It wasn't the first time Zabuza had asked himself that in the past couple of days, but walking down to the village actually gave him time to try and answer it. He wasn't exactly fond of Kirigakure, it wasn't like offing a few Shinobi from there was a bad thing to him, but he wasn't any fonder of Konohagakure. He'd have some half-cocked idea of trying to recruit them to help him, maybe take down the Mizukage-a Jinchuriki and Sharingan users would make for a powerful backup squad-but after spending any amount of time around them it became clear they weren't inclined to do that. He still didn't know how highly they valued their connections to Konoha, but they wouldn't drop everything just to help him. He couldn't think of a way to really make them, either.

He wasn't even sure he wanted to.

Stressful situations, especially combat, were an easy, quick way to build up trust with someone, but the way the three seemed to just explicitly trust him bordered on absurd. Kakashi had shown a healthy level of suspicion at first, but it had evaporated after one conversation. All Konoha Shinobi couldn't be this trusting. They'd all be dead.

Right?

He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the distracting thoughts, focusing on the world around him. The air was crisp and clear, weak sunlight filtering through the trees. He could hear the noise of his footsteps on the slightly frosty grass. Winter was just loosening its grip on the land, and both the plants and animals were waking up. You could never get this kind of sensation in Kiri. Everything was stone and cold. He hated it.

He strolled into the village, which was only just waking up, and ignored everyone he walked past, carrying himself with perfect confidence. He was just a Kiri Shinobi sending a report off. Most villages had some kind of aviary for sending or receiving messages from the main village. He walked into it, unannounced, and grabbed a scroll, tie, and brush, and quickly filled out a basic, vague, 'I found a target' mission details, before tying it to a hawk and all but throwing the bird out the window. He watched it go, troubled. There was no guarantee it'd be believed, or that it would matter. No Kiri Shinobi who saw him had lived, but if anyone had noticed him leave…

_Who's to say I shouldn't just go and kill some bandit?_

He could. Just find someone, do a basic bounty mission, and return to Kirigakure. Why should he stick with the others? He didn't have to turn them in, but this was rapidly turning into a situation that was the exact opposite of what he'd told Kakashi. More and more it was looking like he was sticking his neck out for little or no reward. There was no good reason for him to stay with them.

He could just leave.

* * *

"You don't remember? Really?"

Obito shrugged helplessly. "I don't. Do you expect my answer to change? I remember what you guys did, the eye operation and getting buried by those rocks, and after that it's just all... a blur. I think I stayed underground for a while, but I don't know where or with who."

Kakashi sighed. "The only Shinobi I could think of who could have saved you would be Doton users, and good ones too. But considering they were the ones we were fighting..."

"Even if you could explain that part, you couldn't explain away his new limbs and eye," Rin added. "It's so strange...it's not normal tissue-it wasn't just that someone regrew the limbs," She paused and scoffed at herself. "Like it'd ever be 'just' regrowing a limb, if that's even possible. But anyway, this is all organic tissue, and as far as I can tell, it's attuned enough to Obito for it to keep growing along with him. For all intents and purposes, they're his normal limbs and eye, just without the Sharingan. And yet...they aren't."

Obito just shrugged again. "I mean, I'm ok with it, but I don't how I got all this," He waved an arm vaguely over his face. There were scars running down one side of his face, and one arm and leg were discolored, but he was still very much the Obito they knew.

Rin smiled and laughed a little. "Yes, I suppose that's what's important. For now, at least."

"Speaking of eyes, though," Kakashi said, wincing slightly as he sat up. "I suppose you might as well take this one back." Both Rin and Obito looked at him, mouths slightly open. They clearly hadn't even considered it.

"Ah…um…really?" Obito asked, uncertainly.

"Well, you've got another eye right there. We can both go back to having to normal eyes."

At that, Obito frowned. "Why do you keep it closed anyway?"

"it's not my eye," Kakashi told him. Obito just stared at him, confused. "It's not my eye, so I can't turn it off and on. It's yours. Only you can do that."

"Oh. So…can I turn it off?"

"Once it's  _back in your head, yes!_ " Obito jumped slightly at the harsh tone, and they both looked at Rin.

"Um…I don't have any equipment right now. The Kiri Shinobi took all my tools and instruments."

"Oh." Obito clearly didn't know what to say to that. Kakashi gave a weak little shrug and lay back down. They sat in silence for a while, each thinking their own thoughts. Their joy at being reunited was dampened by the strangeness of the whole situation.

"This is all too weird," Obito said, breaking the silence. "I get buried alive under a bunch of falling rocks, yet here I am with you all, with some new limbs and a new eye-with no memory of how I got them, or got here. Kiri Shinobi just kidnap Rin out of nowhere, put a Bijuu inside of her and then let her loose, despite the fact that they then chase after her with a bunch of ANBU. And the only reason she's even alive is because Zabuza showed up out nowhere and saved her," Rin shifted uncomfortably at that, but nodded in agreement.

"I've been thinking about that," Kakashi spoke up. "I don't know about what happened to you, Obito, but I think whoever sealed the beast into Rin must've wanted her taken back to the village. Can you think of a more dangerous sneak attack? There wouldn't even be any evidence."

Obito's face darkened. "Yeah, that would be bad…but do you really think they'd do that? I mean, they'd lose a tailed beast in the process, and Kushina is a Jinchuriki on top of all the high-level ninja in the village."

"...So how does getting crushed under rocks given you the sudden ability to comprehend tactics?"

"Shut up, stupid Kakashi." Rin couldn't help but laugh, and they were all lost in memories for a moment.

It was she who brought them back to reality.

"Do you…do you think Zabuza is coming back?" Rin asked quietly. Obito looked up at her, confused, but Kakashi just sighed.

"I've been wondering that myself. I doubt he'll turn us in, but there's no reason he couldn't have just left."

"Huh? I saw that he was a Kiri shinobi, but I thought you guys were friends…" Obito asked, looking back and forth between the two of them.

"Zabuza showed up right before you did. We'd never met before," Kakashi told him, deciding Obito didn't need the details of exactly what happened.

"Then…why wouldn't he turn us in?"

"Because he's already helped us. He'd just get in trouble for letting us escape in the first place. I doubt we would've gotten away from all those ANBU without him."

Rin and Obito nodded agreement at that. Stealth wasn't their strong suit. They sat in quiet with their thoughts for another moment, before Rin spoke up.

"We should all get some rest," she said.

"Then we need a watch," Kakashi added.

"I've done the least, so…I'll go first. You two should sleep," Obito smiled, stood up, and walked over to the fire.

Kakashi couldn't quite draw strength to protest. There wasn't any point. There probably wouldn't be any problems anyway. And he was really tired.

His last thought, as he drifted off, was wondering if Zabuza was going to come back.

He hoped so.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zabuza's sword is named Kubikiribōchō. As for the spelling of it…I'm just copy-pasting. I don't even know how to do those little accents above the O's.

**Chapter 2**

_**Clang** _

The kunai that had been flying toward Zabuza flew to the ground as he charged past them, closing the distance between himself and his attacker. Zabuza skidded to a halt and brought his sword around in an upward slash, cleaving through jacket and shirt and sending blood flying, but the cut wasn't deep enough to kill. He ducked underneath a stab from behind, turning to kick his second assailant back while the flat of his blade caught the ankle of his first attacker, sweeping him off his feet and up into the air. He continued his turn, straightening back up as he swept the blade around him, forcing the man behind him to step back, lest he end up cut himself. At the end of his spin he brought the blade down in a brutal straight cut, all but dividing the first assailant in half horizontally as blood flew everywhere. He jerked his sword upward, freeing it from the carcass. Without even looking, he stepped backwards and smashed the pommel into the second attacker. Between the crack of bone-breaking and the gurgle of a cut-off cry of pain, he knew he had hit jaw, which would stun even an experienced fighter.

He turned and brought his sword down in a diagonal slash, sending blood flying as the man crumpled to the ground, his life draining onto the ground. Zabuza stood still for a moment, panting. Blood stained his clothes, but the blood on his sword was rapidly fading. Kubikiribōchō was a messy killer, but at least it was self-cleaning. His clothes, however, were a different story.

Zabuza watched his sword as he walked through the trees to a nearby stream. Kakashi's lightning attack hadn't done any significant damage to the blade-a few scuffs, and cuts really- but he'd made sure none of the Konoha Shinobi had seen it anyway. The markings bothered him, maybe more than it would bother the others, because Kakashi's attack had barely touched it. Saying the attack 'skimmed' it was even a bit strong. Kubikiribōchō was iron; it wasn't made of the strongest materials, and could be broken, relatively easily when compared to the 6 other swords of Kirigakure. Its regenerative properties meant that damage didn't have to matter, so long as the wielder possessed any skill. Still, no normal Jutsu, especially one not even directed at the blade, should have been able to damage it like that.

_What the hell kind of technique had Kakashi been using?_

* * *

Obito jumped when Zabuza trudged back into their camp, causing the taller man to scoff.

"Some lookout, getting spooked by the first person to show up," He said, casting his gaze over the sleeping forms of Kakashi and Rin.

"It's not like I wasn't ready to react," Obito said defensively, keeping his voice down to as not to wake the other two.

"If I'd been here to kill you, you'd be dead," Maybe it was the matter of fact tone, but that one seemed to get Obito more than the others.

"Well…we didn't know whether you were coming back or not."

"Shouldn't that mean you'd need to be more on guard? Instead of…whatever this is?"

Obito transfixed Zabuza with a pained glare. "You're worse than Kakashi."

"Better believe it."

It wasn't until Zabuza put them down that Obito noticed the bags he'd been carrying.

"Is that what took you so long?" He asked, walking over to examine the bag and its contents, ignoring Zabuza's eye roll at leaving his post.

"Sending the letter off, getting this stuff, asking around about seals and dealing with some idiots who thought I'd give them the time of the day."

"Is that what they asked for?" Obito was skeptical, and Zabuza snorted.

"They asked for all my possessions. I gave them my sword."

Obito pointed at the weapon still clearly set against Zabuza's back. "You still have it."

"They didn't keep it for very long."

* * *

_"Nothing?"_

_"Not a sign of them. The good news is that there's no evidence that Kirigakure recaptured them. The bad news is that there's no evidence they got away, either. It would be unreasonable to assume our spies in Kiri would know for certain if they were killed or locked back up."_

_"But they definitely got out at least once?"_

_"The battlefield is unmistakable. The torn-up ground matches your descriptions of that lightning technique of Hatake's. They clearly made it all the way out to that field before being forced to engage. But the rain certainly didn't help our trackers. We've no way of knowing the end result of the fight."_

_"I see…we just have to hope they got away."_

_"The best-case scenario is they disengaged, escaped the trackers, and are currently lying low in the countryside, looking for a chance to get across the border."_

_"And we all know what the worst case scenario is…well, I trust your judgement in this. My own is certainly clouded when it comes to these two."_

_"There's one last thing, sir."_

_"What is it?"_

_"There were two downed Kiri ANBU-both killed by a sword."_

_"Why is that odd? Kakashi carries a short sword."_

_"The cuts were much deeper and longer than we think that kind of sword is capable of. Either Hatake has a new technique, or…"_

_"Or they found an ally."_

* * *

Kakashi awoke to the smell of cooking meat, and his stomach instantly responded. He sat up, eye locking on the roasting meat, barely aware of rising to his feet to move closer, until he was brought back to his senses by laughter.

"Well, he's up!" Obito exclaimed, turning to Rin, who nodded, still laughing.

"I haven't eaten in days," Kakashi defended.

Rin, however, shook her head. "We made sure you got some food yesterday. Not a whole lot, and you were unconscious, but you were actually the first one out of all of us to eat."

"And you don't see us acting like a dog who just smelled his favorite treat," Obito added cheekily.

Kakashi looked back and forth between the two of them, trying to think of an appropriate response, before giving up. "Is it at least ready to eat?"

At his question, a plate seemed to appear in front of him, and he jumped in surprise. His body still weak from Chakra exhaustion, his feet slipped, and he began to fall, only to be stopped short by a powerful grip on his arm.

"Really?" Zabuza asked, mild disappointment mingling with the amusement in his voice. He pulled Kakashi back up, and didn't release him until he was steady on his feet. Kakashi mutely accepted the plate from Zabuza, who walked over to the meat on the fire, withdrawing a kunai from his weapons pouch.

"I didn't know you were back."

"Didn't exactly look, did you?" Zabuza held the kunai above the fire for a moment, before turning back to Kakashi. "Well?"

"O-oh, sorry," He walked over to stand by Zabuza, holding his plate out as the taller man dug the kunai near the top of the roast, before sliding it all the way through in one smooth movement, so that one long, unbroken strip of meat landed on Kakashi's plate.

"The beauty of a kunai," Zabuza grunted, walking away from the fire and sitting on one of the overturned logs, grabbing a towel and wiping the weapon off.

"Here, Kakashi," He turned to see Rin holding out a normal knife and fork to him, which he accepted, sitting on another makeshift chair and pulling his mask down, too hungry to care about going out of sight to eat.

It wasn't until he got more than halfway through his meal that he took the time to look up and examine the campsite. Rin and Obito were sharing a log, talking quietly while they ate. Kakashi noted that Zabuza's face was also uncovered, though he seemed to have finished eating. He looked relaxed, running a whetstone over the kunai he had used to cut the meat. Casting his gaze over the campsite, he spotted what looked like an empty bag, probably what the meat-the taste indicated it was lamb-sitting next to a few other bags, only one of which was open.

"Where did you get  _lamb_ , Zabuza?"

Both Zabuza and Kakashi looked over at Obito's question, and Zabuza just shrugged.

"This close to the Land of Fire there's plenty of open grasslands. It's gets rocky and mountainous pretty quickly if you move further in, but a few stones aren't gonna bother sheep out here."

Obito drew breath to speak again, but Zabuza cut him off irritably. "There isn't a lot of game out here. This close to the village, a lot of ninja pass through on their way in or out. The herders give discounts to Shinobi who help them out, and the help they most often need is with predators."

Obito thought for a moment, nodded, and then it was Kakashi's turn to cut him off.

"Shut up, Obito."

The young Uchiha deflated and crossed his arms, looking dangerously close to pouting. Rin patted his shoulder and looked across the dying fire to Zabuza.

"Thank you for all this, Zabuza. You didn't have to."

Zabuza shifted, with the faintest hint of discomfort, before answering. "It's a loan. With interest, I might add."

"Of course," Rin said, smiling at the Kiri Shinobi. It wasn't necessarily the answer Kakashi would have given, but he supposed Zabuza had the right to ask for something after helping them so much.

"Were you able to get any idea of where to go next?" Kakashi wasn't trying to be pushy, but he didn't want to be away from the village longer than possible.

"The general consensus was that the best known seal-workers are in the Land of Fire. It's not really a specialty of Kirigakure." Kakashi sighed. Of course the easiest solution was the one they couldn't take. Why would it be anything else?

"Are you sure we can't still go? I mean, the tag is supposed to release the seal at the village, not the border," Obito asked, but all three of them shook their heads.

"I doubt it would activate right on the border, since that could endanger Kiri if the beast just turned around, but without any knowledge of where the beast would release in proximity to the village, it's too dangerous," Rin said quietly.

"For all we know, it the seal could just set a timer once she crosses the border, counting down to release," Kakashi added.

"I've never heard of a seal working like that," Obito said skeptically.

"And none of us have heard a rule saying they can't work like that," Kakashi snapped. "Look, let's say we take the best-case scenario that the tag will only activate if she walks into the village borders. The only people who could do that kind of complex seal work would be in the village itself, so we'd-meaning I-would have to sneak in and leave Rin a safe distance from the gates. That means I'd have to sneak past ANBU and normal Jounin alike. The only Shinobi that would trust me enough to leave the village to help would be Sensei and Kushina, and there's no way she would be able to without being followed, considering what she is. Rin's reasoning isn't flawed. Everyone would insist on bringing her back to the village first, and the chance that we'd get to fully explain ourselves is simply too unlikely."

"Even if you did, there's a fair chance someone would just decide to kill her or extract and re-seal the beast." Zabuza's tone was cold, but he was right. Someone like Danzo would definitely have that kind of solution. Obito rubbed at his eyes vigorously, thinking.

"So…you really don't think there's anything we can do?"

"Not in the Land of Fire. We'll just have to hope we can find someone else."

"I wouldn't bet on it," They all looked over at Zabuza. He was still sharpening his kunai, and continued speaking without looking up. "The only people out there likely to have the kind of seal knowledge you need are the same ones who probably sealed away all the other Bijuu. People loyal to their respective villages."

"People who would just kill us all anyway," Kakashi finished quietly. Zabuza looked up, pausing in his sharpening, and met Kakashi's gaze. His eyes were hard, and his message was clear. Slowly, Kakashi looked over at Rin and Obito, who were watching the two of them cautiously.

There was only one solution.

* * *

_"His sword? In-"_

_"In a Kiri ANBU, a tracker by all appearances. His body was concealed next to two others, both felled by a third party."_

_"The swordsman?"_

_"Possibly, but they were assassinated, not cut down. Kiri's silent killing technique, we're fairly certain."_

_"What!? So there's a Kiri shinobi helping them?"_

_"Or two. There were 4 sets of footprints."_

_"4 distinctive sets?"_

_"If the 4th set was falsified, it took time we doubt they had. 3 sets were wearing shoes, the 4th was bare."_

_"There's too much going on that we don't know about."_

_"Agreed. As someone in the business of knowing things, I'm heartily uncomfortable with it all. The good news is that the dead trackers indicate that whatever else happened, they escaped Kiri's net. So no matter who helped them-even if they were just captured by a different party-is not working with Kirigakure. I've got people watching the other borders, in case they simply get taken to a different village, but we might miss them."_

_"I suppose we'll just have to trust Kakashi and Rin to take care of themselves. We can't risk dipping too far into Kiri. Let me know if you get anything."_

_"Yes, sir. Though I won't pretend I like it."_

* * *

"This is a terrible plan."

"Tough shit, Obito."

"Kakashi, you're starting to sound like Zabuza."

"Thanks, Rin. That really changes things. Now would you two please hurry up?"

It was hard to decide who was in more danger with this plan. Zabuza had gotten them a few Kiri outfits-Obito's complete with shoes, which he'd put on gratefully-and Kakashi insisted they not only get used to them, but that they should transform their features as well.

"I'm not a good actor," Obito insisted. "We'll get caught."

"Ideally, it won't take all that long. You guys can stay away from cities, but you need to be able to pass yourself off as campers."

"Then why do I have to have Zabuza's headband?"

"I'm not too eager to loan it to you either, shrimp. But a skilled observer will be able to tell you're a ninja. You need to be able to pretend you're undercover. Say you're observing somebody in a nearby village. Suspect them to be a foreign ANBU."

"Not that short…"

"Obito, we've been over this," Kakashi said, sighing.

"You really can't think of a different plan?" Obito was desperate, completely lacking confidence in his ability to go undercover.

"We have been over this!" Kakashi repeated. "We need to go to Konoha to get help. Rin can't so much as enter the Land of Fire. We can't leave her alone, and I'll need Zabuza's help to sneak into the village. You two stay on the move so you don't get caught, and if all goes well, we return with either help or a destination."

"Nothing always goes well! When has anything ever actually all worked out?"

"…Shut up, Obito."

"You're just saying that because you don't have an answer!"

"Obito!" Rin pleaded, silencing him. "What choice do we have?"

Obito looked at her, frustration warring with concern on his face. "I just…"

"I'm sure you'll be able to defend me if you need to," She said sweetly. "And I'm not helpless either."

Obito turned red, stuttered out a few incoherent words, and then closed his mouth, nodding.

Zabuza leaned over to Kakashi and muttered, "Is he always that easy to manipulate?"

"If it's Rin? Yes." Zabuza snorted, but looked away when Obito turned a suspicious gaze on them.

"We should get going," Kakashi said, cutting off any further conversation. "The sooner we leave, the sooner we get back."

"Be careful." Rin was clearly anxious about the idea of sneaking into Konoha. "Even you, Kakashi…"

"We'll be fine." Kakashi reassured her. "This isn't running some op against the village. It's just asking Sensei for advice. I'm more worried about you two, to be honest."

Obito grunted in agreement, but Rin just smiled. "All we have to do is look harmless. Piece of cake."

"Wonderful, but can we get going already? This sob fest is going to make me throw up."

"That's nice," Obito said sourly, glaring at Zabuza.

"He's right, even if he's tactless," Kakashi said. "We could stand here saying goodbye for hours." Zabuza didn't waste breath on another word, turning on his heel and jumping into the trees, out of sight in seconds. Kakashi turned to follow him, but looked back, and nodded to his teammates. "Be safe."

And he was gone.

* * *

Minato sighed and slumped into a nearby chair, staring out at the oppressive fog pressing against the windows. He'd been alternating between sitting and pacing, as if the answer he was looking for would materialize if he was frustrated enough. None of it made sense. The early ANBU reports had been confused and had given them nothing but a dead end. The best sense Ibiki had been able to make of it was that someone had intervened while Kakashi and Rin were fending off some Kiri ANBU, then they had joined up with a 4th member and escaped the trackers. After that, they had promptly dropped off the face of the earth. It made no sense to them. Who had intervened? Why? Where were they now? They didn't even know why Rin had been taken in the first place-

"Sensei!" The voice was quiet, and from a safe distance away, but he reacted quite violently nonetheless, turning around sharply, sending the chair flying while a kunai seemed to appear in his hand, ready to defend himself.

"Shh!"

"Kakashi?"

"Minato? What's going on!?" Kushina had hurried into the room, stopping short when she saw Kakashi climbing in through the window.

"Would both of you keep it down?" Kakashi hissed. "I think I might've already tipped a guard off. If I get caught-"

"You snuck in!?"

"Minato," Kushina touched his shoulder, pressing a finger to her lips. She waved Kakashi over, and led them back into the bedroom, where she closed the door behind them. Turning to examine the door, she made a few basic hand signs, then pressed her palm to the wood. A seal appeared, as if written in black ink. She walked over to the window, and after a moment, repeated the process.

"Nobody should notice the seal in this fog." She said, her voice returning to normal volume.

"That was the idea," Kakashi said wearily. "But maintaining the fog is tiring, so I don't have forever."

"Who's maintaining the fog?" Minato asked, frowning. But before Kakashi could answer, he held up a hand to forestall him. "Wait, no. Start from the beginning. We know you and Rin got out of Kiri and met up with someone else, but that's about it. If you're here, where is she?"

"Rin and Obito are safe, in the Land of-"

"Obito!?" He and Kushina exclaimed together.

"You really do have some explaining to do." Kushina said, eyes wide. Kakashi nodded.

* * *

"Obito, I want to try something."

There was a loud snap as the small hatchet Obito was using cleaved another log. He stood up, leaving the hatchet embedded in the stump he'd been using as he turned to look at Rin.

"What?" He asked, wiping a hand across his sweating brow. Rin beckoned him over.

"You said you can't remember anything, right?" Obito frowned as he closed the distance between them.

"Uh…yeah. Why?"

"Well, there is a medical technique that might help with that." She gestured for him to sit, and he complied, curious. "It's not perfect, and it depends on how the memories were lost, but I thought it might be worth a try."

"Sounds like it," Obito said cheerfully, sitting with his back to her. "Why didn't we try this before?"

"Because…um…well, you see-I wasn't sure…how…to…"

"Uhhh-"

"It should be safe even if I do it wrong!" Rin hurriedly assured him, red-faced and embarrassed. "It just-it wasn't something I really had time to study, you know, with everything else going on. It was kind of…low-priority."

"Oh…well, if it can't hurt, right?"

"Um…yeah!"

"Rin?"

"Nothing! Just be quiet and face forward, ok?"

"O…k…"

Rin took a deep breath and released it quietly. It shouldn't be harmful, whether it worked or not, but it had been so long since she'd read the material on it. They'd been on their own for two weeks' now, and while they enjoyed each other's company-especially since Obito had been so miraculously returned to them-and they had the freedom to move around, they were both getting a little bit of cabin fever. They wanted to stay in the same general area while they waited, both because any tracker would expect to move farther away, and also so Kakashi and Zabuza wouldn't have to go on a huge manhunt to find them when they came back.

She rubbed her hands together. She wasn't sure what was making her so apprehensive. At first, she simply hadn't been sure how to do the procedure, but now that she was about to…maybe, it was that this was the first time she was doing something new with her Chakra since she'd gotten the Bijuu sealed inside her. After all, she hadn't really been thinking about it when she was running, or tree-climbing, or even the basic Chakra healing she'd done for Kakashi. That had all been routine, requiring no thought, but nothing bad had happened.

_I'm probably just psyching myself out._

She made the few basic hand-signs, and then her hands were alight with Chakra. The sensation-or lack thereof-still astonished her. She might not have been a combat Shinobi, but she'd always had high levels of Chakra. It was important for a medical-nin, especially if they wanted to be a field-medic, to be able to heal for hours at a time, if necessary. But that didn't compare to how she felt now. The Bijuu was dangerous, but it was a source of raw Chakra, one she had access to. It was a heady feeling, as though she'd never run out of Chakra again. Was this how Kushina felt all the time?

She pressed her hands against the back of Obito's head, and focused. There was no noise except their own breathing, and the soft hum of Rin's Chakra and she slowly pushed her Chakra forward, searching-for what she did not know. Several seconds passed in silence.

And then everything happened at once.

She felt a flash of foreign Chakra, one not belonging to her or Obito, an indescribable noise that seemed to shake her whole being-a roar from the beast within her-and then-eyes. Something from within her seemed to jerk, and she was thrown back from Obito with a flash of light and a shriek of terror. Obito was thrown forward, almost landing on the lowly crackling fire, and immediately attempted to scramble back to his feet, though his balance had clearly been thrown off.

"Rin!? RIN!?"

Everything felt like it was on fire, as though her whole body was shaking, and both her and the Bijuu were in agony. She was dimly aware of the fact that she was screaming, and that hands were shaking her. She thought she could hear Obito's voice, and then became aware that she couldn't see.

It was all rather terrifying.

* * *

"I'm glad Obito's alive, but...poor Rin..." Kushina muttered, pressing a hand to her stomach. Kakashi guessed that was where her seal was.

"So Obito...what? Just...plopped out of nowhere?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Your guess is as good as ours. Maybe better. I could confirm he was the real deal, but no idea why he's alive or where he's been."

"I don't even know how we'd take a name off the memorial..." Kushina muttered, before straightening and addressing Kakashi properly. "I'd love to help-you know I would, but..."

"But you can't leave the village, let alone the Land."

Kushina nodded glumly. "For what it's worth, I'd guess that the seal is bound specifically to the village, not the entire Land." Kakashi absorbed that information, turning to Minato, a pleading look in his eye.

"There...might be one thing..." He seemed to be talking more to himself than to them.

"Sensei?" Kakashi was anxious in spite of himself.

"Actually finding him is a bit of a stretch…but…" He turned, suddenly, and skinned his thumb with the tip of his kunai. The other two let out a little cry of surprise as Minato made a series of hand signs, before placing his hand flat against the wooden floor. "Kuchiyose!"

There was a large cloud of smoke, and when it cleared, there sat-

_A toad?_

"Well, it's been awhile since I've been called by you, eh, Minato?"

"Nice to see you, Kousuke." The toad, evidently named Kousuke, was red and blue, with a pair of goggles hanging around his neck. It looked around the room, waving at Kakashi and Kushina.

"Wow, did I get invited to some kind of secret meeting?"

"Sort of," Minato said. "I don't suppose you'd happen to know if Jiraiya is around?"

"Uh…no. I don't."

Minato sighed. "Can you, or any of the others find out?"

Kousuke shrugged. "Well I can't. And I've never heard of anyone that can. He either summons us or has us reverse summon him. Can't do it without his call."

Minato ran a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. "Well-gah! He's really useless in situations like this!"

"Minato," Kushina's tone was one of disapproval. "I'm not disagreeing with you, but this one isn't really his fault."

"If he would only stay in the village we'd just be able to go talk to him about it!" Minato was pacing again, only this time in a much smaller space. "Look, Kousuke-does someone have to have a pact with the toads to go to Mount Myoboku?"

Kousuke seemed to balk at the very idea. "What!? Why would you want someone on there who doesn't have a pact?"

"Because if Jiraiya's not available, Fukusaku and Shima are the only ones I can think that might be able to help. This is serious, Kousuke. Like, natural-disaster-level serious."

The toad frowned-as much as a toad could frown, anyway-and slowly nodded. "I suppose…send me back an' I'll ask. Don't blame me if they say no though!"

"Thank you," Minato said simply, before making a hand sign, which made Kousuke disappear in another cloud of smoke.

"Sensei, who are Fukusaku and Shima?"

Minato flopped down on the bed and looked at Kakashi over his shoulder. "Sages. Seals aren't their first area of expertise, but I'd bet they aren't ignorant on the subject either. They should at least be able to make a good attempt, or figure out what's wrong."

"But…if they can't…"

"If they can't, I'll have them reverse summon Kushina and I. Problem is still solved, even if we get yelled at later."

Kakashi's shoulders sagged with relief. "Oh…good…" They were quiet for a moment, waiting for the toad to return.

"It's quite a load off our shoulders, knowing you're all safe," Kushina said, placing a hand on Kakashi's shoulder. Minato nodded, standing back up and stretching.

"We've been trying to puzzle out what happened to you two-well, four, I suppose-for a month now. You did an excellent job at evading everybody."

"We had to. Being taken back here would've been almost as bad as being taken to Kiri," Kakashi shuddered. "If not worse."

"You made the right decision. The village elders have never been all that clear-headed when it came to dealing with the Bijuu," Kushina assured him. "Did you or Rin ever happen to find out which beast it was?"

Before Kakashi could answer, Minato abruptly threw his hands together in a sign, and Kousuke reappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Well," he said, waiting to make sure he had everyone's attention before continuing. "They said yes." Kakashi sank onto the bed, feeling some of the stress of the past few weeks fall away. They weren't out of the woods yet-but they at least knew what direction to go.

"But only," Kousuke continued, "If they take the official paths. No summoning shortcuts."

"I suppose that's fair," Minato said, crossing his arms. "We don't have everyone here right now anyway. But they will need a guide."

"I know. I got assigned, since I'm the one you called."

"Oh, uh-sorry."

Kousuke waved a hand. "Nah, it's not a problem. We don't get out of Myoboku much anyway."

"Thanks Kousuke," He turned to Kakashi. "It'll probably take upwards of 4 months, all told. Considering you'll have to go all the way back to pick up the others. And there's only a few paths possible to take to Myoboku. That actually reminds me, Kousuke-it's important to keep them as far away from the village as possible."

Kousuke, evidently out of complaints, just nodded. "It'll take even longer then."

"That's fine," Kakashi said. "All that matters is that we all make it safely."

"That'll be up to you," Kousuke said, matter-of-factly. "I am not a combat toad."

"Well," Kushina said. "I suppose we shouldn't keep you."

"Thank you both, so much," Kakashi said, standing up and looking back and forth between them, at a loss for what else he could say.

"We're not doing much," Kushina said, hugging him. "And we're more than happy to do this little. Give the others our love-and hug Obito for me?"

"No. You'll have to wait to do that yourself," Kakashi said bluntly.

Minato clapped a hand on Kakashi's shoulder as Kushina walked over to the window, releasing her seal. "I wouldn't get into the habit of saying no to her. It doesn't go well," Kakashi snorted, and Kushina turned to give them an ominous stare. "Err, as I was saying-you should be as safe as possible, heading out. I'd keep your Sharingan open until you meet back up with your friend and get a fair distance away."

Kakashi nodded, lifting up his headband and, after a moment, opening his Sharingan.

"I'm gonna miss this thing."

Minato blinked for a moment, before understanding. "Oh-right. Yeah. Hadn't thought of that. He does have an eye to give back, right?"

Kakashi nodded and walked over to the now open window, turning back for one final 'thank you', when he noticed-

"Uh…Kushina? Are you…"

"It's time for you to go, Kakashi!"

"Well, it just kind of looks like maybe you're-"

"That Sharingan's a drain on your Chakra, shouldn't stand around with it active! ~"

"Well, it just kind of looks like you're pr-"

" **Leave. Now.** "

"Uh…well, see you guys soon! We'll bring good news!" And he was out the window, a perplexed Kousuke following him after a moment.

They watched the open window for a moment, staring into the fog, when Minato turned to his wife. "What was he saying?"

"Oh, I'm sure it wasn't saying anything important, dear."

At that, Minato frowned. "Well, it almost sounded like he was saying pr-"

"- _Pretty_  good looking! Which I'd say I am. Now you should go pick up that chair you knocked over and we can go to bed."

"Uh…ok…"

As Minato opened the door and walked out into the kitchen, Kushina walked over to the window and closed it. "Damn you and your Sharingan Kakashi. I am not getting locked up by him any sooner than I have to."

* * *

Zabuza hadn't been thrilled about the idea that a toad was their guide of choice, but had been too tired to argue, needing to save his strength to distance themselves from the village. Neither of them was comfortable stopping until they'd put several miles past them, and even then, it was only because they were forced to. Zabuza all but fell off a tree, landing hard on the ground and only just keeping his feet under him.

"I guess that means this is our stop?" Kousuke asked.

"Here's as good as anywhere else. It's a large enough clearing, and it's plenty late."

Zabuza glared at them. "I can keep going."

Kakashi raised his hands innocently. "What? I didn't say  _anything_  about you," Zabuza growled something unintelligible before throwing his pack down, leaning over to untie the ropes holding his sleeping bag and one-man tent.

"Well, I'm gonna go get my own food," Kousuke said, turning and scanning the forest. "Ya think there's a pond or stream nearby?"

Kakashi tested the air for a moment before answering. "South by southwest. Not sure how large it is, but it's something."

"Thanks!" Without further ado, the toad hopped off in the direction Kakashi had indicated.

The young Konoha Shinobi turned around to see Zabuza fumbling with his tent. He walked over and took the tent from him, batting away his hands and rolling his eye at Zabuza's half-hearted growls.

"Just let me. It's the least I can do."

"I can-"

"Oh shut up, would you? You're exhausted, and you're exhausted because you were helping me. At least let me do this," Zabuza sighed and released the tent, sitting down and watching as Kakashi set up his tent. "It's not like anyone thinks you're just tired from traveling. You snuck me into one of the great ninja villages."

Zabuza let out a slightly wheezy laugh. "Suppose I did, huh?" Zabuza looked up at the sky, and laughed again. "Damn, I'm good."

Kakashi snorted, but was in a good enough mood to humor him. "Yeah, you are." There was a moment of stunned silence as Kakashi tied off the tent, deliberately not looking at his companion.

"…huh."

"What?"

"I guess I just figured you wouldn't admit that."

"Zabuza, you've saved Rin's life." He turned and fixed Zabuza with his gaze. "Twice, now. Go ahead and preen, just this once."

Zabuza laid flat out, staring up at a clear night sky. "Well, now it's not any fun."

Kakashi didn't dignify him with a response, just rolling out the man's bed roll and walking a fair distance away to set up his own. As he worked, he could hear Zabuza moving around, working to get in his tent. It seemed to take a great deal of effort, and Kakashi studiously made sure not to turn around, knowing Zabuza would want to hide his struggles.

"Can't believe we snuck into Konoha…" Zabuza's words were slurred with the sound of someone about to fall asleep. "Just…damn, you know? If we could get in…imagine what I could with a squad of ANBU…"

"I don't know," Kakashi said critically. "I've seen the Kiri ANBU, and I'm not impressed."

Zabuza let out another tired laugh, but didn't seem to have any energy left to talk, the only sound coming from his direction soon was deep, even breathing. His Chakra exhaustion wasn't nearly on the level's Kakashi's tended to be, and they'd probably be able to proceed as normal in the morning. He sat down in the mouth of his tent, staring out on the forest, waiting for Kousuke to return. He wasn't seriously expecting any kind of pursuit, but a watch was always a good idea if you didn't want to get caught.

He wondered, idly, how Obito and Rin were fairing. They were probably just bored. Rin would be worrying about them, and blaming herself as things she imagined up went wrong. Obito would blithely reassure her, not offering anything of substance to help the situation, but would sit nearby and pat her on the arm and tell her it was all alright, and not to worry, and a bunch of other things that wouldn't actually help but would make him, at least, feel better.

Just like old times.

So why was he sure that something had managed to go wrong?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Kakashi didn't begin to panic until they came upon the empty campsite.

"No signs of a struggle," Zabuza said as he strolled through the campsite, eyes scanning the ground around him. "Nothing to indicate they were ambushed. You got anything?" He looked at Kakashi pointedly, and the Leaf Shinobi shook himself.

"No traces of scent to indicate they were gassed. And they weren't interrupted," He indicated the hatchet stuck into the log. "He put that down on purpose."

"Genjutsu?"

"They'd have to be a world-class caster. It's not impossible, but between Rin's ability and Obito's Sharingan, I think it's fair to say it was unlikely."

"So they left on their own?"

"Or were faced with such an overwhelming foe they surrendered. And I have a hard time imagining Obito surrendering." Kakashi groaned and sat down on a log. "Besides, there's no signs of another group in the area." Scenario after scenario was popping up and being shot in Kakashi's mind in quick succession, each one worse than the last.

"What do we-"

"No other options." Kakashi look at Zabuza in surprise and the man hefted his sword over his shoulder, drawing out a scroll from his weapons pouch and throwing it on the ground as it rolled out. He placed the blade onto the scroll-which was exactly the right size to accommodate it-made a few quick hand signs, and it disappeared in a cloud of smoke, now sealed into the scroll.

"Zabuza?"

"I hate keeping it in here," The man grunted as he rolled up the scroll. "But it stands out." He stood up and looked over at Kakashi. "Until we figure out what's going on, we shouldn't be so noticeable. We can go down to the nearest village and ask around-and it'll be a lot easier if we don't look ready to kill anyone."

"Then I think I should do the talking," Kakashi said dryly, untying his headband. "Sword or no, you still look like a murderer."

Zabuza, wrap off his face, flashed him a fierce grin. "You are less threatening than me." Kakashi rolled his eyes, not commenting, while he stowed his headband. "Mask." He groaned, but complied.

"I hate having this thing off."

"Tough shit."

"Thanks, Zabuza."

"For the record, I'm still here," Kousuke called from the edge of the campsite.

They ignored him.

* * *

Kakashi wasn't sure what he was expecting when they walked down into the village, but it wasn't Obito running down the main street straight toward them.

"Kakashi! Hey!" He skidded to a stop in front of them, apparently out of breath-which was ridiculous, considering how small the village was.

"Obito, what-"

"I was wondering when you'd catch up!" Obito said, cutting him off. "Where's Mom and Dad?"

Alarm bells were once again going off in Kakashi's mind.

"They got held up at the village. What happened to getting the campsite ready?"

"Well, we did! But then Kira got really sick. I had to carry her all the way down here!"

"But-but is she alright?" Obito was clearly in-character, but his dancing around of the important information was driving Kakashi mad.

"Oh, the doctor says she will be, but she's really weak."

"Uh...aren't they healers out here? Not doctors?" Rin was ok-and going by the name Kira, apparently- and that was what mattered. Now it was more important that they not get found out. Obito was still in his disguised form-which did little aside from masking his scars-and Rin evidently had so far gone unidentified. None of the Shinobi that had traded blows with him or Zabuza were around to talk about it, so as long as they didn't do something stupid, they might get away.

"Right, right, the healer. Well, she said that she thinks it's a disease from around here, but that it's not normally a problem this time of year. Something about plants."

Kakashi nodded mutely as he and Zabuza fell in step behind Obito as he led them to the healer's house, talking all the way.

"It was really scary at first though. It seemed like she just fell over while I was chopping firewood! I was so tired when I got her back to the village, I almost fell asleep! And then I did fall asleep! Anyway, the doctors weren't sure what it was at first, but I guess Kira had heard about it before, and she was really scared of it. They didn't think that's what it was at first, because it's seasonal, but-"

So Rin, quick thinker even in times like this, had remembered a disease that would obscure whatever the real problem was, and then imitated some of the symptoms to help convince the village healer. The only problem, it seemed, was that it was a winter plant.

"And then these guys from the BIG village were asking me a bunch of questions about where we were, and where we came from, and where the plant was, and I told them where the site was, and that you were on the way, and that Kira had gone for a walk yesterd-I mean, the day before, and I didn't even know what the plant was, and then we were told to stay in the village while they looked for it, and then you showed up, and then-"

Kakashi stepped forward and placed a hand over his mouth. "We know what happened after that, thanks."

"4 of them, 2 at the village edges, 1 hangs around the hut. Only one is out looking for the plant at a time. They don't know, but they think we're suspicious anyway."

Kakashi released him and gave him a little push. "Do you ever stop talking unless someone makes you?"

Obito just grinned. "Probably not!"

* * *

Hiruzen found Minato at the War Memorial, alone.

"Thinking deep thoughts?" Hiruzen grunted, studying the Memorial. "I don't have an escort. And neither do you."

"Well, if you must know, I am not."

"No deep thoughts?" Hiruzen asked, amused.

"I'm trying to figure out how in the hell you'd go about taking a name off this without re-doing the whole thing."

"Well, I-what?" Hiruzen turned to look at Minato, bewildered.

"Remember that fog a week ago?"

"At night?"

"Kirigakure no Jutsu. Apparently, Kakashi made a friend," Hiruzen's eyes widened, before he turned to scan the buildings around them.

"I checked already, and there's a couple seals for dampening sound around. Kushina showed me how."

"What's going on, Minato?"

Minato turned to face him in turn, looking troubled. "Kiri made Rin into a Jinchuriki. Kakashi thinks they meant for her to be rescued, because the seal is set to release if she enters the village."

Hiruzen swore softly. "That'd kill her. And a lot of other people. I take it Kakashi snuck in to ask for help?"

"It's too long a trip for Kushina to make, and she's the only one that would help them in good faith. They know the kind of man Danzo is."

The old Hokage nodded. "What did you do?"

"I would've sent them to Jiraiya if I knew where he was. I went with the next best thing. Toad from Myoboku is acting as a guide."

"Good thinking." Minato flashed him a smile at the praise."Do you know anything about this friend from Kiri?"

"Other than that he was strong enough to sneak Kakashi into the Village-and all the way to our house. Including explanation time and the trip back, and that's an awful lot of Chakra use. He's also the one who helped them to escape from the Kiri trackers. Kakashi was light on details otherwise."

"Risky, but I suppose it's safe to trust him for now. With the kind of hierarchy Kiri has, he'll likely just get punished for not turning them in sooner."

"We'll see if that lasts." Minato said grimly. "But-happier news. And why I'm here. Obito is alive."

Hiruzen frowned. "Obito? Uchiha? Your old student?"

"We thought he died during the war-he's the one who gave Kakashi the Sharingan."

"Then I'm sure the clan will love to have him back." Hiruzen muttered. "But he was buried alive, wasn't he? How on earth is he alive?"

"An excellent question, and one we have don't an answer too. He's got the matching Sharingan to Kakashi's, and they confirmed there's no disguise or illusion. Nor is there any apparent Genjutsu cast on him."

"So he's the real thing...still, we can't rule out the possibility that there is Genjutsu that Kakashi can't detect. Obito may not mean harm, but there's no guarantee he couldn't be made to do harm."

"I know," Minato said quietly. "And I'm sure Kakashi does as well. But that won't stop us from being happy he's alive."

"It shouldn't." Hiruzen rested a hand on Minato's shoulder. "You and your students have responded perfectly, as I see it. And if all goes well, even Danzo will have to admit that a second Jinchuriki in the village makes this all worth it and then some. Good work, Minato." He turned and began to walk away, calling over his shoulder "And as for the monument-I'll think on it."

* * *

"Kakashi!" Rin's voice was horribly weak, and Kakashi had to remind himself that she was acting. "You're here! Where's Mom and Dad?"

"At the...village," he said with a sigh, grabbing a hand as Obito moved to the other side of the table. Zabuza leaned against the door, watching them.

"I guess you already said that, huh?" She said with a slight giggle, before breaking into a coughing fit.

The healer, a reedy little man, bustled over with a cup in his hand.

"There, there, young lady. Calm down and drink some of this."

"Uh-she needs to be propped up first," Kakashi said, sliding an arm under Rin's shoulders and helping her sit.

"Eh? Yes, yes, of course. Gotta make sure it goes down properly." He all but shoved the cup into Kakashi's hands before turning and making his way back to over to his office.

"No wonder you were able to convince him," Kakashi muttered as he lifted the cup.

"This stuff is terrible and unhelpful," Rin whispered. "But I can't think of a way to dump it out without getting caught. I have to keep the coughing up so I'm not suspicious." She accepted the cup and drank it all in one go, making a face as she returned it to him. "Terrible. He uses all his sweetener in his damn tea."

"In his tea?" Kakashi asked, taking the cup back and and laying her back down.

"I know! And he doesn't even offer us any!" Rin was speaking in something closer to a stage whisper now, further confirming what Obito had said about a Shinobi being around the hut.

"So what exactly happened? Is it safe to go back to the campsite?"

"Uh-huh," Obito said. "That was the first place they checked. They don't really seem to know where the thingy is."

"It's just one plant," Rin said. "All the tracking skills in the world wouldn't help find it." She sighed. "I should've worn normal shoes…"

"Well-you're alright, right?" Kakashi asked uneasily.

"Yeah, the healer said I'm through the worst of it. It's just recovery from now on."

"Everything's still at the campsite," Kakashi said. "We should probably go pack it up."

"It does seem like we won't have our camping trip," Rin said woefully.

"I'll stay here," Obito said unhappily, letting out a loud, dramatic sigh which they all ignored. Zabuza held the door open for Kakashi, who gave him a slightly confused look, but said nothing.

* * *

"I think everyone assumed I was some kind of bodyguard for you," Zabuza said as they moved back into the trees. "Decided to keep up appearances. Don't get used to it."

"Used to what? You holding doors open for me?"

Zabuza shot him a glare and said nothing.

"Is pretending to be nice that painful for you?"

"You should worry more about how painful it'll be for all of you."

"Oh," Kakashi said in understanding. "You're just mad that you had to listen to Obito that whole time."

"Yes."

* * *

They took their time walking to the campsite, both of their senses stretched to their limits. It wouldn't do for them to be overheard as they weighed their options.

"Aside from the fact that no, I don't want to kill them, there's also a lot of other reasons not to. I am not interested in being hunted all the way to the border."

"But you won't fake her death."

"Of course not! Rin could, sure, but we'd have no way of communicating that was the plan. And she's supposed to be past the worst part of her 'infection'."

"And you won't use clones."

"Do you know the right transformation to make our clones look convincing? Or what family we should pretend to be? Or how to explain what's going on to the others?"

"Right. So you have absolutely no ideas." Kakashi glared at him. "Unless you can erase memories, we're going to be pursued no matter what we do. Tactically speaking, the option that gives us the most time is-"

"No!" Kakashi had stopped walking. Zabuza came to a halt a few steps away, turning to look at him. "Just...no."

"It's necessary." Zabuza's voice was cold, and unfeeling.

"No, it's not." Kakashi was shaking slightly. "It's necessary sometime. You were right about that. But killing those men will not make the problem go away. It'd just delay it for a few days. And these men aren't on guard like the others were. They aren't our enemies. They're just doing their job."

Zabuza sighed. There was no arguing it. "Then conjure up some magic, Kakashi. Because that's the only way we're getting out of here." He started to walk again, when he realized Kakashi still wasn't following him. He turned back to look again. The Konoha Shinobi hadn't moved, but he no longer looked troubled-instead, he had a hand held over the eye-patch they'd put on before reaching the village.

"Memories, huh?"

* * *

Obito was fidgety.

Kakashi and Zabuza were taking too long. Obito was sure they'd gotten into some kind of argument-even in the short time he'd seen them together it was obvious they were two very different sides of the same coin- and there  _was_  a welcome lack of explosions, but still. Suspicions were bound to be rising among the Shinobi stationed around the village, especially with Zabuza apparently playing a giant mute that followed Kakashi around. He thought his acting had been just fine, though he had to admit to himself that it wasn't much a stretch to get in character.

Rin was sleeping-or pretending to, anyway. They had no way to safely communicate.

Come on, Kakashi...you better have a way out for us… He looked up at the ceiling and sighed. Because I sure don't have one.

**Thump**

Obito jumped to his feet as the healer let out a gasp of alarm. A small part of his brain supposed the healer had probably had enough people faint around him to recognize the sound of a body falling to the ground.

Kakashi and Zabuza dashed through the doorway, and Obito had a heart-stopping moment where he wondered if they were about to attack the healer. He drew breath to say something, and then Zabuza was next to him, slapping a hand over his mouth, while Kakashi came to a stop in front of the healer. Nothing seemed to happen for a moment, but when he opened his Sharingan, he could see the Chakra swirling around them.

"Ah...y-yes...of course...she's...feeling better...anyways…" The healer turned, a little unsteadily, and began to walk toward the back of the hut. "Jumping at...nothing...need to lay down…"

Zabuza removed his hand from Obito's mouth and hissed at him "Grab her and lets go before we have to carry Kakashi too!" Rin was wide awake, but Obito didn't even start to protest, picking Rin up and running out the door after the other two. They immediately jumped up to the top of the hut, where Obito saw the slumped form of one of the Kiri Shinobi's.

"Is he…"

"Asleep," Zabuza snapped.

"Obito, you can put me down now!"

Obito blushed and complied, as the other two had already stopped.

"We need to stay out of sight," Kakashi panted.

"You used Genjutsu?" Rin asked, concerned.

Kakashi nodded. "The Shinobi on watch will remember a couple people walking into the hut right before he dozed off. The healer thinks your parents came to pick you up. We waited for a change in shift, so one of the village entrances wasn't watched."

"It's thin, and they might come looking for us," Zabuza continued, "They'll figure out nobody's on the west road pretty quickly. We're gonna have to move." He glanced at Kakashi, who nodded.

"I'll be fine for a while-but I don't think I'll be sitting watch tonight. Rin?"

"I'm in the same boat as you."

"Alright," Kakashi was nodding as much to himself as to them. "Let's move. Stealth."

* * *

None of them were content to stop until they'd put 3 miles between them and the village. And none of them but Obito was content until they'd traveled another two.

"They think we're traveling injured, remember? This should be putting us out of their initial tracking range," Kakashi said irritably.

"It should put me into an early grave," Obito said.

"Rin nearly died and I had to cast powerful Genjutsu on two people. You have no excuse. Now help set up camp."

They were in a clearing on the edge of the forest, unpacking the supplies Kakashi and Zabuza had brought with them. Rin already had a small fire going, intent on getting warm food in her before passing out.

"We won't be setting everything up," Kakashi said. "We're going to be on the move now, and we should assume pursuers starting tomorrow."

"You don't want to keep watch tonight?" Rin asked.

"No," Kakashi said tiredly. "We're too tired. We might as well get a full night's sleep."

"Even if they figure everything out I'll doubt those Shinobi will come back on their own," Zabuza said, walking over and handing Rin a pot of water. "They seemed pretty low level. Probably green."

"I suppose so," Obito started. "I guess you're ri-"

"HEY!" They all started and turned toward the forest. "I AM STILL HERE, YOU ASSHOLES!" Kousuke angrily hopped down from a tree. "WHAT DO YOU THINK I AM? A DOG? I AM A TOAD! AND YOU SHOULD'VE WAITED FOR ME DAMMIT!"

"What is that?" Rin asked. "Or-who?"

"Is it dinner?" Obito asked.

"I wish." Zabuza growled.

"It's our guide," Kakashi said, still irritated, casting a glare at Zabuza.

"I'd eat him. I really would."

Kousuke came to a halt, about to start yelling again. "Uh…"

"Especially if he keeps yelling."

Kousuke stared at Zabuza for a long moment. "You know, I think you're less scary when you have those bandages on."

The three of them fought to hide their amusement as Kakashi and Zabuza abruptly realized their faces had been uncovered the whole time.

"Well, it's nice to meet you," Rin said, drawing Obito's and the toad's attention to her as Zabuza and Kakashi hurriedly got their equipment back on. "I'm Rin, and this is Obito."

"Well aren't you polite! That's a pleasant change. My name's Kousuke, and I'm a messenger toad from Mount Myoboku. I'm here to guide you there. I guess Minato thinks they can help you with whatever your problem is." He looked at her curiously. "What, ah...is the problem?"

Rim smiled, not missing a beat. "If they couldn't tell you, neither can I." Kousuke shrugged-or did the toad equivalent, anyway.

"Worth a shot. Now then-hey, where'd they go?" Zabuza and Kakashi were gone.

"They'll be back," Rin said, catching Obito's eye and motioning for him to be quiet.

"But-that guy always knew where the best ponds were!"

"Zabuza went that way to get me water," Rin said, pointing for Kousuke.

"Oh...thanks!" The toad said, hopping off in the direction she'd indicated.

They waited until Kousuke was out of sight, and then Rin put out the fire.

"Come on," she said softly, and Obito followed her out of the campsite.

* * *

"Are you really still suspicious of me?"

"No, it's just-well, maybe I am." Kakashi dragged a hand through his hair in frustration. "I want to believe you're just helping us, but-there's no gain in this for you Zabuza. None. Kousuke made it pretty clear there's no treasure waiting for you at Mount Myoboku." Zabuza leaned against a tree and crossed his arms, watching Kakashi impassively. "Look, I just-tell me you're going to come back to the Leaf Village with us."

"What?" Zabuza was actually caught off-guard.

"Or-or at least that you aren't returning to Kiri after this. Otherwise it doesn't make any sense! Nothing you've done makes sense if you're planning to go back to Kiri for any amount of time! All you've done is put yourself in danger for no reward, and that's only more and more true the longer you stay with us. I want to just think that-that we're friends now, or something." Their eyes locked. "But we're both Shinobi, Zabuza," He said softly. "And I know it's not that simple."

Zabuza stared at Kakashi, trying to think of an answer. At first, it had been pure fascination, and curiosity. Kakashi's Sharingan and skill, Rin's apparent sacrifice. He hadn't worried about being caught, and he didn't care about attacking other Kiri Shinobi. But Kakashi was right. Potential benefits had been evaporating as he went, and yet he'd still gone.

"I'm not saying either of those things," Zabuza growled as Obito and Rin dropped out of the trees behind Kakashi.

"Then why should we trust you?"

He wanted an answer. It was honestly a little baffling to him. Rin and Obito were going to go along with whatever Kakashi decided, but Kakashi truly wanted him to give them a reason to trust him. Zabuza almost wished he had one.

"You shouldn't," He said, standing up fully. "You never should've. And yet here I am."

"Because we didn't have a choice. We needed your help and you kept giving it. But now we have time to talk about it."

"Not much to say."

"Zabuza, please," Rin said, a hurt note in her voice. "Just say you want to come with us."

"You don't know a damn thing about what I want." He wasn't thinking anymore, not really. It was all automatic. Pushing them away.

Kakashi looked in the eye for a long moment.

"Fine."

Zabuza nodded once, slowly. Then he turned away and began walking toward the trees.

"That's it!?" Obito called after him. "After everything? Just because you won't admit we're friends?"

He kept walking. It had been stupid. The whole thing.

It had been fun.

Stupid. He knew who he was, what he would do. He wouldn't regret any of this, but he wouldn't be bound by it either.

As he walked into the trees, he heard Rin yell after him.

_"Thank you!"_

And then they he was too far away to hear anything.

Maybe he'd regret something.

Just a little bit.

* * *

_**One Month Later** _

"Either your plan worked better than expected or Zabuza headed off pursuit," Obito said, yawning. It was a bright morning as they trekked up a small, cleared dirt path.

"Ow!" Rin had very deliberately stomped on his foot.

"Or we crossed the border!" She said, glaring at him.

"And we're on the hidden paths now," Kousuke called back helpfully.

Kakashi said nothing, keeping pace a few feet ahead of the group.

"What was that for?" Obito whispered.

"You can be so dense sometimes. Stop bringing Zabuza up!" Rin hissed back at him.

"What? Why?"

"Because Kakashi clearly still feels bad!"

"Kakashi also has better hearing than either of you." They started guiltily as Kakashi glanced back at them. "He made his choice. I've nothing to feel bad about."

Rin's expression as Kakashi turned away made it clear she didn't believe him, but Obito decided he wouldn't pry.

They'd spent an uneventful month making a wide circle back to the Land of Fire. They'd kept strict watch until they'd crossed the border, but encountered nothing. That had made them more suspicious than anything, and they'd taken nearly 3 hours to scout the surrounding area before letting Kousuke take them onto the secret paths. Once there, Kousuke had assured them that only sages could get onto this path, or people being led by a toad like them. The only people they might encounter would be people they'd want to see anyway, and keeping watch was no longer necessary.

He'd been just as sure that they couldn't have a fire on the path, and they'd been stuck to cold rations the entire time.

"We should be there by tomorrow, the day after at the latest," Kousuke said cheerfully. Messenger toad he may be, but Kousuke was more used to traveling in puffs of smoke rather than a cross-country hike. He'd stopped complaining about halfway through, deciding instead to take the opportunity to make a 'toad-friendly' map of the area, as Kakashi had never failed to locate him a water source to find food, and that information could be useful in the future.

What they had no answers for was what had happened to Rin. Kakashi had gotten the full story from them: Rin had tried to help Obito recover some of his memories. There had been some sort of reaction with her Chakra that had shaken her seal. Obito had been disoriented while Rin passed out. He'd panicked and taken her down to the village in case the healer could help. She'd recovered quickly, but had to keep up the ruse to stay concealed. They still had no idea what had caused it.

"Hey! Keep up!" Kousuke called. He and Kakashi had picked up their pace slightly, and Rin and Obito hurried to catch up.

* * *

"Ta-da!"

They'd decided not to enter the sanctuary at night time, instead camping just outside of it, and now they were grateful. Myoboku could not be truly appreciated at night.

"It's beautifu-"

CRASH!

"KOUSUKE! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!"

"What the hell!?" Rin shrieked as she jumped away from the towering amphibian that had landed in front of them. Obito's jaw dropped, and Kakashi had to grab his arm and drag him back.

"Oh, uh, hey boss!" Kousuke called. "I've been on a mission! A real important one!"

"ONE THAT INCLUDES BRINGING STRANGERS TO MYOBOKU!?"

"Uh, yes, actually. The bosses said they had to be brought here!"

"OH." The large red toad seemed stumped for a moment, before he reached into a pocket of his massive haori and pulled out a similarly-scaled pipe. After lighting it and taking a few puffs, he looked down at them. "Sorry about that."

They just stared at him.

"Well, say something!"

"...um...nice to...meet you?" Obito tried weakly.

The toad leaned down slowly, until he was as close to eye level as he could get. There was a long pause, all of them too afraid to move.

"Nice to meet you too." Obito jumped nearly a foot in the air at the unexpected boom of a voice, and the large toad stood up straight, laughing. Obito turned a deep shade of red and took a step back, leaving the other two to deal with it.

Kakashi sighed and stepped forward. "Um...excuse me!"

The large toad ceased his laughter and looked down at him.

"We're looking for someone who can help with seals!"

The toad's eyes narrowed as examined Kakashi. "Don't you have any manners, youngster?"

Kakashi started to say something, but Rin stepped forward.

"We're very sorry!" She said, bowing. "I'm Rin, this is Kakashi, and, uh," she turned back to indicate Obito, "This is Obito. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Ha! Knew there had to be a polite one," He turned his attention to Rin. "I'm Gamabunta, but everyone here just calls me Boss. The ones who are really in charge, though, are the sages. They're the ones you'll be wanting," He waved to Kousuke. "Get'em moving already!"

"Er, yes, sir, boss! Sir!" Kousuke waved at them to follow as he hopped past Gamabunta.

"Don't cause any trouble," Gamabunta cautioned as they moved to follow Kousuke, before the huge toad turned and moved away, making little quakes as he hopped.

"Well...that was...interesting," Rin said.

"Yeah, Boss tends to come on strong," Kousuke said. "Good toad though. He's just the main fighter here and he takes that seriously."

"I guess…" Obito muttered.

"Oh, come on," The toad scoffed. "He was just having fun with ya! Don't get so down."

"He's just embarrassed," Rin teased.

"I am n-well...maybe a little. But I think getting startled by a giant battle toad isn't that strange! Besides, he startled you pretty badly too, if I remember correctly!"

"At least she didn't become a slack-jawed idiot because someone said a bad word," Kakashi muttered. Obito turned red and attempted to respond, though he clearly couldn't think of anything. Rin just laughed, and after a moment, the other two joined in.

"Ok," Rin said. "This whole trip has just been so...so ridiculous, I finally lost it. Is that so bad?" And then, before either of them could say anything, she started to cry.

"Rin?" Obito and Kakashi both moved to either of her as she shook her head.

"I'm not-I'm not sad." She sniffed, trying to stop. "I just...we were never going to laugh like this again, you know? Obito was gone and I was going to be...be an idiot and make Kakashi…" Her sobs renewed, and Obito, on impulse, hugged her.

"But we're here," he said simply, as Kakashi placed a steadying hand on her shoulder.

They stayed like that until her sobs faded, and she smiled at them.

"Thanks. You're g-good friends."

"I'm just surprised Obito didn't start crying too."

"Is that really necessary?" The Uchiha asked, wounded.

Rin laughed and wiped her tears away. "We're here." She said, smiling at Obito. "We're us. And I wouldn't have it any other way."

Obito let go of her, and she suddenly grabbed both of their hands. Obito smiled, and Kakashi didn't say anything, as they walked up to the Sage's hut.

Together.

* * *

"I'm sorry, did you say stab her?"

The old toad looked at them. "I told you I had good news and bad news. The seal is simple to remove. That doesn't mean it's easy."

Kousuke had bid them farewell at the entrance to the hut, an event that had almost drawn a fresh wave of tears from Rin, and when they entered the hut, they found the floor had a seal on it, the only light coming from two lit braziers, and two old toads sitting on opposite sides of the room. They hadn't said anything, just motioned for Rin to sit between them.

"But-but-that's-" Obito spluttered. Rin looked like she was about to faint.

"There's no time release or area detection on her actual seal," The female old toad, who had introduced herself as Shima, said.

"There a tag wrapped around her heart," The male one, Fukusaku, told them. "It's set to kill her and release the beast the moment she reaches Konoha."

"You want to stab her in her heart!?" Obito yelled, somewhere between shock and anger.

"There's no way to do this gently, boy," Fukusaku told him sternly. "The moment that seal detects interference, it'll release, and then we'll all be in trouble. It has to be disabled and taken out in one move. It's not pretty, but we have to make an opposite seal on the end of a stick."

"And then stick that...stick...into her heart," Obito said faintly.

"Right next to it," Shima said. "A very important difference. We can do it, and make sure she'll be alright."

"We really don't have any other options," Kakashi said grimly, and after a moment, a very pale Rin nodded.

"The alternative is so much worse," she whispered.

"Now, now," Fukusaku said, hopping up on her shoulder. "It'll be alright! By the end of the week, you'll be good as new! Sage's honor."

"We'll have to make the disabling seals tonight," Shima said. "Now, you all look tired, and hungry."

* * *

"I think I'd rather get stabbed next time," Obito groaned as they waited in the same room as the previous day. It was far less ominous than it had been the first time, the seal gone and the windows opened to let natural light in. There was clatter, and they looked at the door to see Fukusaku picking two long, smooth wooden sticks back up.

"Um...are you anticipating multiple...attempts?" Kakashi asked slowly, and Fukusaku gave gave him a stern look.

"Always good to be prepared youngster." Shima hopped in after him, followed by three smaller toads.

"Get in formation," she said to them, and the toads hopped past them, waiting expectantly behind Rin.

"Well," Fukusaku said, dropping one of the sticks and readying the other one. "I think we should just get this over with. Nice and easy, one and done, ya know?"

"Um...right," Rin said nervously, making what appeared to be a huge effort to drop her arms to her side. "Just...right away. Rip off the bandaid, right?"

"Ri-"

"Are you sure you're ready though? There's not anything else you need to set up, or-or any seals you need to lay?"

"I'm sure."

"Oh...shoot." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Ok. Just-just go!"

"Alright!" Obito closed his eyes. "Here we go!"

"Unless-" Fukusaku stepped forward and thrust the sealing stick through her chest. Rin bit down a scream as a flash of light almost blinded Kakashi. Fukusaku hurriedly pulled the stick back out, only now there was a white tag stuck to it. Kakashi caught Rin as she fell, unconscious, laying her down gently in between the waiting toads, who began to sing a strange tune. There was a surprisingly small amount of blood, and as the toads sang, Kakashi could see the blood flow slow.

"Maybe it's a good thing Kushina couldn't help, if this is what had to be done," Kakashi said, shaky with relief.

And then Fukusaku grabbed the other stick and stabbed Obito.

The expression on the young Uchiha's face was one of pure shock before he passed out. Only Kakashi saw the same flash of light erupt from Obito as Fukusaku pulled the stick back, also with a tag on it. Kakashi was frozen as Obito crumbled to the ground, Shima hurrying over to him and starting to sing the same song the little toads were singing to Rin. Kakashi turned to Fukusaku, who held the stick up grimly. The tag on it was crumbling up and turning to ash. The other tag was already gone.

"There were better ways a good seal worker could have removed these," The toad said grimly. "This was the only we could do it, but it doesn't leave any evidence." He turned and looked Kakashi in the eye. "I want you to tell him he just passed out in shock. Couldn't handle seeing what we did. If he knows-if anyone knows that tag was in him-they'll start asking questions about where he's been. Minato-boy filled us in on your story. I lied to you lot-those tags were for control. Whoever placed them would've used them to make the girl release the seal herself. Who knows what they would've made the boy do?"

Slowly, Kakashi nodded, understanding. What had happened to Obito was and would remain a mystery, because it was the only way he would be safe. The memories Rin had attempted to recover were erased, and the shock she'd felt was her touching the same kind for seal she had on.

"It wasn't Kiri," He said softly.

Fukusaku shook his head. "No, probably not. At least not knowingly. We can tell Minato-boy-maybe Jiraiya too. Because they can come here to hear it. Nobody else." He looked down at the other two, who were now sleeping soundly. "And these two...they're better off not knowing."

Kakashi just nodded again. 3 people. 5 toads. That's everyone who would know this secret. And he wouldn't be able to talk to any of them about it. There was an enemy out there with enormous power and reach who wanted to destroy Konohagakure. And they would keep their secret for them, because the alternative would be to do their work for them.

The door burst open, and a large man with long, spiky white hair stepped in with a flourish.

"Jiraiya the Gallant is here!"

There was a very long, very awkward pause as he held his pose in the doorway, taking in the scene before him. The toads had stopped singing, and Shima and Fukusaku's expressions were slowly transforming to anger. Then Shima hopped up and smacked Jiraiya across the face.

"YOU ARE SO LATE!"

* * *

Jiraiya saw them back to the village by reverse-summoning, where Konoha medical-nin were able to properly care for Rin and Obito. Kakashi stayed in the hospital with them, as Minato and Jiraiya pleaded their case to the Elders. As they'd all predicted, the addition of a new, safe Jinchuuriki, overruled any charges Danzo could think of for their unannounced, unplanned time away from the village. Rin's seal had been thoroughly examined by Kushina and other, unaffiliated seal workers, and while it was different, it was as secure as any Jinchuuriki's. A few of the seal workers were tasked to deconstructing it on paper, so they could learn about it as well as Kiri seal work as a whole.

Obito's case was dismissed outright, though Danzo had raised the most objections to it. Between them, Minato and Jiraiya had taken Hiruzen with them to Myoboku so he could hear the Sage's explanation, and with he had managed to shout Danzo down in the meeting, knowing and later proving, through other means, that Obito was no threat.

Taking the name off the memorial prompted something of a festival as Konoha celebrated the return of a war hero. The Uchiha clan was noticeably absent, but Obito, overwhelmed by the rest of the village's joy, didn't seem to mind. Actually changing the memorial required an intricate series of Jutsu cast by both the current and former Hokage. And to top it all off, Kushina made her first public appearance swollen with pregnancy.

Obito decided to have Kakashi keep the Sharingan. The Uchiha had already made it clear that neither Obito or Kakashi was welcome, and Obito decided that it was his eyes, and his decision.

Zabuza had vanished. They were certain to meet again, though in what context, Kakashi didn't know.

It was as wrapped up as it possibly could be.

And all Kakashi could do was wait for the next thing to go wrong. They still had an enemy who wanted to destroy the village. Foiling this plan didn't mean there wasn't a backup plan.

He had to wait.

* * *

_"Zetsu...I must move. I must use this eye of mine, one last time."_

_"Are you sure? You'll shorten your life considerably."_

_"I will live until we find a worthy vessel for this eye. But things must be done first. Events must be put in motion."_

_"I understand. Our contact will move. We will see to the plan. We will see that you can fulfill your role."_

_"See to my plan, Zetsu."_

_"Of course…_ "


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes places in a bunch of different segments all moving forward in time. I needed to bridge the gap between timelines. I think it came out fine, I just wanted to apologize in advance in the event of confusion.

**Chapter 4**

It was the closest Zabuza had been to Konoha since he'd helped Kakashi sneak in. He'd strayed intentionally, even if he wouldn't admit it to himself. This route didn't cost him anymore time, but there had been other paths he could have taken. He was on what was probably one of his last missions for Kirigakure. They hadn't linked him to the disappearance of the 'captive Kunoichi', and he'd even managed to casually point them the wrong way, but his absence had raised suspicions.

It was a clear night, the moon bright in the sky as Zabuza skimmed the tree-line. It made for a much more appealing landscape this Kiri's. No wonder they'd all loved their village so much. The richness of the forest, with the village just a silhouette in the background, spoke to the care the residents of Konoha must have given the trees and wildlife.

_**Crash** _

Zabuza instantly concealed his presence as he landed on the nearest tree branch, frozen. Fighting?

_**Boom** _

" _Katon: Zukokku_!" Zabuza was forced to leave his perch as a massive fireball created a small clearing in the stand of trees. He could hear the clang of kunai being deflected, and then-

"Rasengan!" There was a bright flash of blue light, that faded as quickly as it had appeared. Then there was silence, save for someone panting. Zabuza fought the urge to move closer. The fight had clearly been ended, but the other Shinobi would still be on guard.

_**Crash** _

He'd been in enough fights to recognize someone being hit to the ground.

"Think I'd...go down...in a single shot?"

Another series of explosions.

These explosions were probably paper bombs, little good they did.

"You'll have to do a lot better than that!"

Zabuza was frozen, listening to the series of explosions and crashes as two Shinobi far above his own level fought.

And then there was an explosion that rocked the very earth, and a roar that defied human expectations.

Zabuza looked up to see a giant orange fox with nine tails tearing up the woodland.

His heart stopped for a long moment before remembering that the nine-tails was Konoha's original Bijuu-not Rin's. And then he realized that he had far more immediate things to worry about. There was an anguished cry from the battleground, and then a Shinobi passed by almost directly over over him.

He stayed where he was for a long minute before poking his head out. Both Shinobi were gone, one apparently fled when the fox appeared, the other must've headed toward the village. On the ground, in the middle of the cleared space, was shattered white mask next to a pile of threads. Some kind of clone, maybe?

He could see, and even faintly hear, the sounds of battle, as Konoha took up arms against the beast. He could hear the sounds of Konoha falling to it, as well.

This was what Kiri would've unleashed on the village? This was...was...wrong. Zabuza was an assassin, and a good one. He wasn't self-righteous, he didn't give a damn who his targets were-though he privately felt most of them probably deserved what they got-and yet...standing here, watching this?

There was a puff of smoke, a flash of light, and then the beast was gone.

Just like that.

Zabuza sat down, his sword clinking as it hit the ground.

He sat there for a long time, not really thinking about anything, hearing distant cries and screams as Konoha Shinobi tried to save those injured in the attack.

If the beast had been released, it meant somebody had probably died.

He wondered who had been fighting here. Kakashi probably knew, but the last thing he should do right now was go to Konoha dressed as a Kiri Shinobi.

No, he had to move on. Continue his mission. Pretend he hadn't been here. Not try to find out who had died. Not come back and try to see the list the Konoha ANBU would no doubt put together, of who had fallen to the beast during its short rampage. The list would probably be disproportionately long for the amount the time the beast raged. But they wouldn't be on it. He was sure of that. Had to be, or else he'd come back and do something stupid, and probably get himself killed.

They were fine. They had to be.

He had to leave. Again. He couldn't stay and help. Couldn't.

He left.

With even more to regret.

* * *

The funeral was a somber event. They had been happening for a week now, and would continue well into the month, as the reinstated Sandaime was adamant every Shinobi had earned one. But the burying of the Yondaime and his wife was village-wide, and would be the only one taking place today. Kakashi stood next to Rin, Obito on the far side. They each held one of her hands, pretending not to notice her slight shakes as the coffins were lowered into the ground. They'd declined to speak-none of them trusted themselves enough to get through a speech. It was one of the first times Kakashi could remember being treated as his actual age. Nobody expected him to be the adult, to make a stirring speech about his friend, his mentor. They let him be sad, and recluse, and just patted him on the shoulder and told him how sorry they were.

After the funeral, while Rin and Obito comforted each other, Kakashi climbed up to the Hokage's office. The door was ajar, and Hiruzen was in there alone, puffing on a pipe and staring out an open window. His Hokage garb was lying over the chair, and he stood in normal clothes. Kakashi walked up to him with a word, leaning on the window sill.

"...Is the baby...ok?"

"Well read, aren't you?" Hiruzen took a puff on his pipe.

"No, they had just told us. The seal weakens during childbirth." Hiruzen nodded.

"Naruto is fine." There was a long pause, before Hiruzen turned to look him in the eye. His expression was sad. "And he's a Jinchuriki."

Kakashi closed his eye, holding in a fresh wave of feeling. He'd wondered-with both Minato and Kushina dead, there had been no other eligible candidate.

"I'm afraid the bad news doesn't stop. I'm instituting a village-wide ban. Nobody is to tell Naruto that he is a Jinchuriki." Kakashi started to nod his understanding, but the Sandaime wasn't finished. "And no one is to tell him of his parentage."

"What?" Kakashi didn't bother keeping his voice in check, and in moments they could hear Rin and Obito hurrying up the stairs. "Why!?" Rin and Obito entered, staring at the two of them.

"Safety." Was Sarutobi's simple response.

"What does knowing who his parents are have to do with anything!?" Rin's hands flew to her mouth as she understood.

Sarutobi looked down at him. "It's all the information you needed, isn't it?" Kakashi started to yell, but stopped. Circumstances aside, Sarutobi was right. Anyone who knew any details about that night could figure out that Naruto was the only possible candidate for the Kyuubi. He would only be safe from the other villages if his involvement was concealed, even from him.

Sarutobi turned to address all three of them. "So long as Jinchuriki are viewed as weapons of war instead of people, the nations and villages will always treat them as such. Naruto will not have an easy life, but it will still be  _his_  this way. You already know the kind of restrictions that are put in place." He gave a meaningful look to Rin. "If Naruto finds out on his own, then that's fine. But that's different than carrying those burdens from birth. And mind you-even if he finds out he's a Jinchuriki, you are still not to tell him about his parents. He...he won't understand. And he'll have enough expectation placed on him already."

"You're making a lot of assumptions about a newborn." Obito's mouth was a hard line, his voice much colder than normal.

Sarutobi suddenly seemed much, much older. "Danzo would have him raised in a cage. It was the best I could do," He whispered.

Rin slowly nodded. She was barely allowed out of the village now, and with what had just happened, those restrictions were likely to only get tighter.

"I'm not saying you aren't allowed to see him," Sarutobi said. "Please, give him company, and love. You just can't tell him."

Rin nodded again. "Where is he?"

"The infant ward in the hospital. You'll know him when you see him."

Rin nodded a third time and left without another word, Obito close behind her. Kakashi didn't move. After he was sure they were gone, he turned back to the Sandaime.

"Have you...have you learned anything? About-"

"No. I don't even know what you're talking about."

"...Neither do I."

"Do you still want to join the ANBU?"

"Yes."

"Then you will."

"...Thank you." And without another word, he turned on his heel and left the office. He should've gone to the infant ward, should've joined his teammates in looking after their Sensei's child.

Instead, he went up to the cliff, and sat out of sight, not far from where Minato's face was carved out of the rock. And for the first time in a long, long time, he allowed himself to cry.

* * *

It was the first mission they'd been allowed on in over a year. Rin could rarely leave the village, and Obito was her de-facto bodyguard, in and out of the village, with Kakashi off in the ANBU. What Obito received on his return were angry glares, suspicious murmurs, apologies and tears, and so commonly, he would hear just how lucky he'd been. Sometimes sarcastically, sometimes not. And he wouldn't understand why.

_Why? Why would you do this? Why, Itachi? WHY!?_

It was all he could think of for a long time. Less than a week after Shisui's apparent suicide-witnessed only by Itachi-the entire clan, save for himself and Itachi's little brother, Sasuke, was slaughtered. Kakashi had been waiting for them at the entrance to the clan's grounds, and had tried to keep Obito out. He'd been sincerely sickened, honestly trying to help, but Obito had punched him anyway.

_Why? Why why why!?_

He hadn't been close to the clan, even before he'd given Kakashi his eye. Despite his skill as a Shinobi, he'd come into his Sharingan relatively late, and his attitude didn't mesh well with the more serious countenance the clan carried. He hadn't been inside the clan's territory in a long time.

He would still do everything in his power to kill Itachi if he ever found him. He didn't even think his chances were that slim. There was something he'd learned, on the morning after that fateful night, in the blood of his kin, that made him understand, a little bit, why Itachi might've been willing to go through with it.

Power came from tragedy.

Kakashi had felt it too. Rin would later tell him they'd been following him into the building when Kakashi had suddenly seized up and collapsed. He was fine, of course, but this new power, whatever it was, wouldn't come to him the way it came to Obito. This was an Uchiha power, and even if Kakashi could use it one day, that day was far into the future.

_I am not Itachi. I am Obito._

He was a good person, that's what he kept telling himself. What Rin kept telling him. He and Itachi were night and day. He had friends who were like family, people he would protect and care for. He could never have, would never have done what Itachi had. Never would've hurt his family.

Sasuke was alive. Alive, and far worse off than Obito was. Not interested in his company, either. Obito's negative reputation in the clan had spread far more, and was far worse, than he'd been led to believe. Sasuke wanted nothing to with 'a pathetic wreck and flunkie' like him. A 'waste of an Uchiha.' It hurt.

He didn't give up though. Sasuke would know somebody cared for him, even if he didn't want Obito around.

Sasuke would know he wasn't alone.

* * *

"Hello, Naruto! Can I come in?"

It was Rin, like it always was. She used to come with Obito, but he'd been chasing Sasuke around lately.

"Ok," He called, not moving off his bed. He'd already eaten his ramen, and couldn't be bothered to move. The door clicked opened and closed, and he could hear Rin walking in. She sighed, and moments later, a shirt hit him in the face.

"Come on Naruto, you can at least put them in the basket." He threw the shirt away from him.

"I'd probably just miss." There was a creak as Rin sat down next to him.

She put her hand on his shoulder. "Oh, please. We've seen you practice. Your aim is just fine."

"I'm one of the worst!" Naruto turned away from her and curled up into a ball.

"Naruto, you're 6 years old."

"Obito said-"

"Obito says a lot of stupid things. You shouldn't listen to most of them," Naruto giggled in spite of himself. Rin always made him feel better. He sat up, rubbing at his eyes. He hadn't been crying, but he'd been close to it.

"But Kakashi became a Chunin really really young, right?"

"The rules were different then. With the war, everyone was advanced early. Besides, I know you don't like listening to Obito talk about how much worse he was at everything, but he does have a point. Obito became one of the best ninja in the village because he was chasing after Kakashi."

Naruto didn't see much of Kakashi. He'd come along with Rin and Obito a few times, and had actually spent the day with him once, just the two of them, but he was always off on missions.

"But I'm not getting any better," he muttered, remembering why he'd been upset in the first place. "I can't do my transformations right, and most everyone can make at least one clone!"

Rin seemed to be thinking hard, her hand resting on his shoulder. She visited him all the time, and she was almost always in the village. He'd wondered if it was like having a big sister, but whenever he'd tried to ask someone, they'd told him to go away. Nobody in class would talk to him either. He didn't understand why.

"Naruto, do you want to practice with me?"

"Huh?" He looked at her, confused. "With you?"

She smiled. "Yeah. I know it's normally Obito, but I think I might be able to help better with your Chakra control." He had the strange feeling that he was missing something, but that feeling was overtaken by excitement.

"You really think you can help me?"

"Yep! And we can do it right here." She turned to face him fully, crossing her legs on the bed. Naruto Mirrored her, and she took his hands. "I think your problem is that you're actually using too much Chakra."

"Too much?"

"You put a lot of effort when you cast the Jutsu right? You have a lot of Chakra, so you're actually drawing on too much. You're overdoing it, not the other way around. Jutsu have a specific amount of Chakra they're supposed to consume, so why don't we practice drawing forth  _juuust_  enough Chakra?"

* * *

Iruka found Rin on the roof of her apartment building. He didn't say anything at first, just walking up and leaning on the railing next to her.

"Nice view, isn't it?" She wasn't really looking for an answer. And she knew why he was here. But he'd have to go through the motions anyway.

"It is. You come up here a lot?"

"Every night there's nice weather. And some nights there's not. Depends on my mood."

"Mmm. Naruto did very well in class today."

"Did he? That's good."

"Talked a lot about how you helped him with his Chakra. Tried to tell everyone he just had more of it than them."

"To be fair, he does."

"Be careful, Rin," He said, standing up straight and looking at her. "You know the edi-"

"Do _not_  presume to tell me anything, Iruka Umino," Her tone was sharp, cold, and entirely different than anything he had ever heard from her. He was shocked into silence. "I was one of the very first to hear that 'edict'. I told him nothing about the fox. But do not tell me to refuse to help that boy. Do not tell me not to care for him, and if anybody should be careful," she stepped even closer to him, "It should be the teacher who treats him no better than the bullies in that classroom." He stayed frozen as she walked off the roof, and it wasn't the door swung closed that he allowed himself to breathe.

He forgot who she was sometimes. Rin had been through war, kidnapping, and two months of survival in hostile territory. She was a war hero who had had an impact on the medical field second only to Tsunade of the Legendary Sannin, and nobody messed with Tsunade.

What had he been thinking?

He stayed up on the roof for nearly an hour, thinking about what had happened and what she'd said. He'd have to think on it.

Was he...really that bad?

* * *

He was being followed, and he knew it. That was the strange part. Zabuza had called up the mist nearly 5 minutes ago, but whoever had been tracking him was still on his tail. If they were that good, he shouldn't know exactly where they were. 30 feet behind him, just out of his field of vision, by the treeline. There was nothing for it. If they were alerting him on purpose, they'd be ready for him. If they weren't-well, they had it coming.

His sword was already in his hand and moving before he'd completed his turn. The shadowy figure split in half-and then disappeared in a cloud of smoke. And right behind the severed clone was Kakashi, leaning against a tree, a book in his hand.

"Come on strong, don't you?" He asked, not looking up. Zabuza sheathed Kubikiribōchō, crossing his arms and glaring at the man.

"You got taller."

"You didn't."

"I was already 6 feet tall. What were you expecting?" Kakashi shrugged, moving away from the tree.

"Already a B rank criminal? You didn't waste time." The book in his hand was a bingo book, which he snapped close and stashed in a back pocket.

"We need to talk." Kakashi raised an eyebrow at him.

"We do?"

"We  _need_  to talk." Maybe it was something in his voice, but Kakashi seemed to take him seriously.

"Alright," He gestured for Zabuza to lead the way.

He didn't let down the fog the whole trip, so Kakashi was forced to stay close behind him the whole way. His hideout was concealed beneath a large, old tree. He hadn't built it, but it had empty when he stumbled upon it, and decided to make it his. He'd never met the owner.

"Haku!" He called, releasing the fog as he followed Kakashi in. The boy hurried out of his room, skidding to halt when he saw Kakashi, his eyes going wide.

"Um-" Haku started,

"Go keep watch," Zabuza barked.

Haku obeyed, walking past them without a further question.

Kakashi watched him go. "You're looking after kids too?"

"Not exactly, but that's not-wait, 'too'?"

There was the barest trace of a blush above Kakashi's mask. "My Sensei's kid. Rin does most of the, ah...everything. But I stop by from time to time."

"Uh….huh…Anyway-"

"Wait," Kakashi said cutting him off. He rummaged in a pouch before pulling out a very full bag. He tossed it to Zabuza, and it jingled when he caught it. Opening it, he saw that it was full of coins-gold coins.

"I was the only one who might run into you." Kakashi said. "So I've been carrying that around for awhile now."

"This is from...all of you?"

"We thought you deserved it. Well-it was Rin's idea, but we agreed." Zabuza stared at the gold for what seemed like a long time before he remembered why they were here.

"So-you're all alright?"

Kakashi stared at him. "Uh...yeah?"

"It's just that-I was there. When the fox attacked."

Kakashi crossed his arms, eyes narrowing. "And you were just...worried about us?"

"What-do you know what ' _Rasengan_ ' is?"

The color drained from what little of Kakashi's face he could see.

"That's-that was my Sensei's technique. The Yondaime."

Zabuza let out a heavy sigh and sat down.

"I was skirting the forest when I heard him fighting."

"Fighting?" Kakashi echoed, sitting down next to Zabuza.

"He hit his opponent with that technique-guy must've went down too, because the fight stopped. But...he got back up. They kept going for a little bit, and then the fox appeared. The guy he was fighting took off and...I guess he did too."

Kakashi swore quietly as he leaned back in the chair. "Zabuza…" He hesitated, then seemed to come to a decision. "You can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you. And I mean anyone."

Zabuza met his eye, and after a long moment, nodded. And for the first time in years, Kakashi spoke of their hidden enemy. And for the first time ever, he explained what had happened up on Myoboku.

Zabuza was quiet for several minutes after he finished, digesting the new information.

"Who...uses the Bijuu themselves as playing pieces? Even if they're just beasts-which a lot of people don't believe-they're some of the most powerful beings in existence."

Kakashi just shrugged tiredly. "I don't know. If I did, we'd be way better off." He closed his eye for a long moment, then stood up. "I should get going."

"What mission are you on, anyway?"

"Hunting a B-rank criminal. Very elusive. Think he might have a hideout underground, but damn if I know where."

Zabuza snorted and stood up next to him. "Sure you'll make it back? You look ready to drop." The offer was there, even if Zabuza would never actually say it. Kakashi looked tempted too, but shook his head.

"Thanks, but if I'm out all night and don't find you, it'll look bad on my record. Best to just drum up some evidence you moved on from the area."

"Thanks." His voice was, for once, free of sarcasm. ANBU were trouble.

"Who's the kid, anyway?"

"Haku? His whole clan got slaughtered a while back. Before he was born. He's supposed to have a powerful Kekkei Genkai, but it hasn't surfaced yet."

"A sole survivor of a brutal slaughter with a Kekkei Genkai? Bring him by the village sometime, I know some kids who have that in common."

"Wow."

"To be fair, Naruto's a Jinchuuriki, but the point stan-Uh, that's supposed to be classified too."

Zabuza laughed and clapped him on the shoulder as they walked toward the door.

"I'll make sure to tell your superiors. Assuming they've defeated me and are about to kill me. What's your call sign?"

"Well I'm not telling you  _now_."

Haku dropped from the branches of the tree.

"ANBU will be running a follow-up sweep of the area, you know."

Zabuza waved a hand at him as he gestured for Haku to go inside.

"I know, I know. Won't be the first time I've shaken ANBU."

Kakashi eyed him, and Zabuza snorted. "I won't kill any of your comrades. Don't worry."

"I'm strangely not reassured," Kakashi said dryly.

Zabuza turned to go back inside his hideout, before he paused and looked over his shoulder.

"See you around, Kakashi."

"See you around, Zabuza."

And then the Konoha Shinobi was gone.

Zabuza sent Haku to bed without a word of explanation, and the boy went without a word. He always did what he was told.

He sat at the table as the lamps died, staring at the sack of gold, until there was no light left to see by.

Then he went to sleep.

* * *

It wouldn't be the last time Kakashi and Zabuza crossed paths. While Kakashi never took another mission to go find Zabuza-after his 'failure'-his missions took him all over the neighboring nations, as did Zabuza's roaming. They never met on such friendly terms again. Zabuza would send Haku away the moment he identified Kakashi, and it was apparent that his Kekkei Genkai  _had_  appeared. More than once, they'd found each other at odds, after the same bounty, or one of them had a staked interest in deposing or maintaining an authority figure. These incidences turned into a sort of game between them, a competition. They would intentionally take on similar assignments. Zabuza tended to get bounty's first, but Kakashi was better at manipulating events to keep or dethrone politicians.

It only got nasty when Zabuza's notion of 'depose' had translated to 'kill'. Kakashi had been forced to play bodyguard, and the clashes had started getting intense, with no end in sight. Then the fool had tripped down a flight of stairs and died. It had taken a long time before Kakashi believed it had been an accident. Next time, they'd played Shogi. Kakashi had won, though it had been a closer match than he had expected.

The Sandaime had been pressuring him to leave the ANBU for some time, but it wasn't until he'd learned about Zabuza's involvement-almost certainly Rin's work, who was annoyed at how Kakashi was conducting himself-that he both understood why Kakashi had stayed in so long, and how to get him out.

He'd offered to take Zabuza off of Konoha's watch list.

It wouldn't remove him from the bingo book, or affect how other villages treated him, but Konoha ANBU would no longer actively hunt him. It wasn't a whim-based off what he'd learned from Rin and Obito about the man, as well as looking over Kakashi's interactions with him, he honestly believed Zabuza posed no threat to the village, whatever his track record. Kakashi had agreed.

His games with Zabuza had been a kind of fun, and had, in fact, comprised a majority of his missions over the past few months, as he'd volunteered instead of getting assigned, but the rest of the ANBU work was weighing on him. Sometimes, sabotage and deposition steered dangerously close to assassination, and morality could be obscured in a few of the assignments that had been given to him.

"Why did you push for me to leave the ANBU so much, anyway?" He was, for the first time in a long time, dressed in traditional Shinobi garb, his headband slanted down over his eye, and the standard flak jacket over his normal clothes.

Sarutobi took a long puff on his pipe before answering. "I know you didn't like some of the assignments that got assigned to you, but the main reason? In all honesty, Kakashi, you were bound to get caught eventually."

He felt his feet heat up, and was thankful the Sandaime allowed him to keep his mask on. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Of course you don't," the Hokage muttered. "But-onto other matters. You've been a Jounin for a long time Kakashi."

"I...suppose…" Being young or being in ANBU didn't mean he hadn't held the title for a decade now.

"I've been thinking, maybe it's about time you took on some of the responsibilities that come with the role." There was a long moment of dead silence after that. Kakashi knew  _exactly_  what the Hokage meant.

"Can we put Zabuza back on the lis-"

"No."

* * *

Rin had woken him in the dead of night without explanation. Obito was already with her, looking troubled, and Kakashi had his gear on in seconds. Rin had just gotten back from treating Iruka at the hospital, and Mizuki was in prison.

They found Naruto in the same clearing he had defeated Mizuki. He was sitting on a stump, his legs drawn up to his chest. He looked up at them when they dropped down.

"You knew." He'd clearly been crying, his eyes red and his voice hoarse.

Rin just gave a sad smile and sat next to him. "Yes."

He looked up to Obito and Kakashi, who nodded in their turn.

"That's why we wanted to look after you," Obito said, walking over and ruffling his hair. "We couldn't tell you, but-we didn't want you to be alone." Kakashi didn't say anything, just studying Naruto. The boy had been calmed down considerably by Iruka, but it was clear he wanted to be mad.

"I know what it's like," Rin whispered, taking Naruto's hand. "And having a few friends can make all the difference."

"You think you know what it's like!?" Naruto jumped up away, away from her, almost backing into Kakashi. "To-to have a monster inside you? To  _be_  a monster!?"

"Naruto!" Kakashi voice was stern, and Naruto started, looking almost straight up to see him. "You have the Nine-Tails. Rin has the Three." Naruto was frozen, his mouth open slightly, as what Kakashi said registered with him.

"You're going to catch flies, silly," Rin said, walking over to him. He looked at her, evidently regretting his outburst. "Yes, I'm the Sanbi's Jinchuuriki. It's how I was able to help you with your Chakra control when the others couldn't." She giggled. "Iruka tried to scold me that night. Said I should be careful what I teach you."

"He did?" Naruto's eyes were wide. He'd seen Rin mad before, only once, and he couldn't imagine anyone bringing that down on themselves.

"And regretted it." There was a very self-satisfied note in her voice, and she winked at the boy. "But I guess he must've learned his lesson."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, laughing. "Guess so. Did-were you not allowed to tell anyone either?"

"Kind-of. Only a handful of people actually know I'm a Jinchuuriki. It's a much better kept secret then your case."

Kakashi placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "We would've told you if we could."

Naruto looked up at him, and after a moment, nodded. "I...ok."

Rin offered him her hand, and he took it, walking with her out of the forest. Obito and Kakashi exchanged a look, and he shrugged, the Uchiha walking after them. Kakashi watched them go, sticking his hands in his pockets.

For all the time the two of them had spent with Naruto that he hadn't, he was now going to be stuck with him for a long time coming.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"You're going to get us into trouble!"

"He deserves it for being so late!"

"What if he punishes us? What if-"

The door opened, and the eraser Naruto had jammed in the top dropped down onto a silver head in a puff of smoke.

"Ha!"

Sakura was frozen, waiting for the response. Sasuke just looked slightly surprised, and Naruto's face was slowly changing from excitement to horror.

Kakashi bent down and picked up the eraser, examining it.

"Naruto…"

"Uh, um, that's, I didn't-it wasn't-...it was Sasuke?"

The eraser hit him square the in the center of his forehead, knocking him over.

Sakura jumped as Naruto hit the ground, stared at him for a moment, and then took a few steps forward and bowed.

"It's nice to meet you Sensei!"

Kakashi smiled under his mask. "It's nice to meet you too, Sakura." He glanced up at Sasuke, who just inclined his head in greeting.

"Um...have you met...already?" Sakura asked nervously.

"I've spent more time with the orange one," Kakashi said, stepping past her and over to the groggy Naruto. "But yes, I've met both of them." He grabbed Naruto and threw him over his shoulder. "Come on you two, we're not going to stay in here all day."

"Put me down…" Naruto muttered.

"No. Sasuke, I will carry you outside too if you don't get moving."

There was a pause, and then Sasuke's chair scrapped backwards as he stood up.

"Good," Kakashi said, leading the way out of the classroom as Naruto struggled on his shoulder. "Let's go have a nice chat."

* * *

Naruto was overly bright, Sasuke was overly dark, and Sakura was a teenage girl. Great.

He was being unfair, of course. Sakura didn't know what else to say-she wanted to do well, but she didn't yet have lofty dreams, or was dominated by a single ideal or goal.

She was  _normal._  It was something downright alien to the rest of them. He couldn't imagine Rin ever behaving like this-but Rin had grown up under the shadow of war. She wouldn't have been the same girl if she had been raised like Sakura had.

Naruto had seized onto the highest ideal that he could find. The Hokage was the leader and example to the village. To become Hokage would mean earning the respect and adoration of the entire village.

Saying he wanted to be Hokage was so much easier than saying he wanted to be loved.

And Sasuke was exactly what Itachi had wanted him to be. Why Itachi would want his brother to be a broken, brooding, angry mess of a boy was beyond any of them. Just because Sasuke had a target for his rage didn't mean he was well off. Sitting there, watching them, he wondered if he ought to listen to Rin. The boys, opposites as they were, both in appearance and personality, could be friends. Chaining them together until they got along was a bit extreme, but he could work in the spirit of the suggestion.

"What about you, Kakash-um, Sensei?" It was really going to take Naruto some time to get used to this.

"Naruto, if it's that hard for you, just call me 'Kakashi-Sensei.'" Naruto nodded, but was still looking at him expectantly. "What about me?"

"Wow, you really did zone out there. Ouch!" Sakura had punched him.

"What he's trying to ask," She said sweetly, as Naruto held his head in pain, "Is what your dreams are?"

Kakashi crossed his arms, thinking. "What my dreams are?" She nodded, leaning forward curiously. Naruto looked up, his expression mirroring Sakura's. Sasuke looked utterly disinterested, but he'd had the same expression on his face the whole time.

"Well...I suppose protecting the village. My friends. You lot. It's my job as a Shinobi."

"Aw, come on, that's boring!" Naruto narrowly dodged another punch from Sakura, holding his hands up pleadingly. "I mean-I mean that's true for everyone!"

Kakashi held up a hand to stop Sakura, who apparently had decided to make generous use of Kakashi allowing her to hit Naruto.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, like you said," Naruto answered, casting a fearful glance at Sakura. "That's a Shinobi's job. We're all here because we want to protect people." Sakura looked thoughtful, while Sasuke let out a contemptuous snort. Naruto shot him an angry glance, but kept talking. "I wanted to know what you want to do. Like, you know, something personal."

It occurred to Kakashi that if he didn't come up with an answer now, Rin probably would later, and he had no way of knowing what that answer may be. And it was a good question, too.

Problem was, he couldn't think of anything.

"Uhm…" They were all watching him curiously now, which really wasn't helping.

He wasn't competitive like Naruto, or had a grudge like Sasuke. He couldn't think of of anything shallow to just throw out, either. He hadn't had to think so hard about wanting to protect people. And he knew why.

"I suppose…" They all leaned in slightly, and he was glad the mask hid his smile. "I suppose I want to...how to put this? Live up to the expectations people had for me. Those that are gone now."

They all sat and thought about his answer.

Sasuke's face was a mask again, no information readable there. Sakura looked like she understood, and Naruto seemed troubled.

"Uh, who, Sensei? Who do you mean?"

He couldn't say. He  _actually_  couldn't say-that was one of the Sandaime's conditions for them to be around Naruto. So he stood up, feigning roughness in his voice.

"That's enough for today. Meet at the training field tomorrow, for your first exercise."

Let them think him sensitive about it. It'd bar future conversation on the subject, for a while at least.

"Bright and early, mind! No breakfast!"

He could hear Naruto's horrified "What!?" but ignored it, and was out of sight in a flash. He was really going to have to work to get the hang of this whole 'Sensei' thing.

* * *

Sakura walked down the road to her house slowly. That had been...awkward. She doubted Kakashi would show the boys any kind of special attention, but it bothered her that they already seemed to know him.

She heard people talking ahead of her, and looked up to see a man with spiky black hair talking animatedly to a woman with shoulder length brown hair. She'd seen them walk by her house plenty of times before. Despite the headbands marking them as Shinobi, they rarely seemed to be out of the village.

"I know what he said, but I still-oh! Hey!" Sakura jumped when the woman yelled at her, instinctively glancing around to see if she was yelling at anyone else.

"Sorry!" The woman had walked over to her, her face red. "I didn't mean to startle you. You're Sakura, right? Sakura Haruno?"

"Y-yes, I am."

"I'm Rin! And this is Obito." She gestured to the man beside her. "We're Kakashi's old squad mates!"

"Oh-oh!" She felt her face flush as she hurriedly bowed. "I'm sorry! I had no idea!"

Rin laughed. "Oh, don't worry about it. Of course you didn't know."

"How'd it go today? You're out kind of early," The man-Obito-asked.

"Oh, um...well...it was…"

"Awkward and boring?"

"Not...boring?" She shrugged slightly. "He hit Naruto with an eraser. That was fun."

They laughed, and Sakura felt herself relax.

"Why did he hit Naruto with an eraser?" Rin asked.

"Naruto wedged the eraser in the door so it fell on him when he opened it."

"Oh that's just uninspired." Obito seemed annoyed. "If he's going to take the time to do something like that, he should at least have gotten a bucket of water or something. And chalk dust on Kakashi's head? Who would even notice!"

"If you're going to critique Naruto's pranking ability, maybe go talk to  _Naruto_ ," Rin told him. "Because I promise, we aren't very interested." Sakura hid a grin as Obito considered Rin's suggestion.

"...No, probably not a good idea to encourage him. Who knows what Kakashi'll throw at him next. I should go check on Sasuke though. Make sure he's not off killing puppies, or whatever he does with his free time."

"Oh!" Something had abruptly clicked inside Sakura's mind. "You're Obito Uchiha!"

"Err...yeah?"

"I mean-I just-um...never mind." She'd heard very little about the only other survivor of the Uchiha clan, save that he existed, and that Sasuke, for some reason, wasn't overly fond of him.

She remembered a day, not too long after Sasuke had returned to school. She'd been waiting after class for her parents, who wanted to take her out to dinner that night, and had watched Sasuke leave. He'd been met at the gate by Obito, and while she hadn't heard anything they'd said, it hadn't seemed pleasant, and Sasuke had left on his own afterward. What stood out to her, more than the argument, was how Obito had followed Sasuke, presumably to his home-staying just out of Sasuke's line of sight.

"Sakura?" She jumped, realizing she hadn't been paying.

"What? I'm sorry!"

"Oh, you're fine," Obito said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I was just saying bye."

"Oh. Uh...bye." She knew her face was scarlet by this point, but Obito just laughed.

"I'll probably be seeing you around. No way I can resist messing with Kakashi during this."

"No way he's going to even try resisting," Rin corrected him, arching an eyebrow. Obito just grinned, and then he was gone, with nothing more than a gust of wind. Sakura let out an involuntary noise of surprise, and Rin rolled her eyes. "Show-off. Do you mind if I walk with you?"

Sakura nodded, and they slowly walked toward her house, talking about what had happened that day.

"But how do you all know Naruto?" She asked, after recounting the day's activities. "I mean, I'd guess you'd all meet Sasuke through Obito, and Sensei did say he didn't know him very well, but where does Naruto come into it?"

Rin didn't answer for several seconds, clearly deep in thought. "I don't know...he was always on his own, you know? I just wanted to look after him. There are some...special reasons Obito and I are kept in the village. So we'd always be around and see him on his own, and then one day I just...had enough, I guess. And the next day, I walked with him." She shrugged. "And the rest is history."

"That was kind of you," Sakura said quietly. "I knew-I just never thought of him like that."

"It's easy not to," Rin said, smiling at her. "And he doesn't really help himself much, does he?" Sakura didn't laugh, and Rin seemed to understand, resting a hand on her shoulder. "He's lonely, but he's not alone. It's easy to feel bad, but that doesn't help anyone. I know he's not your favorite person, but just give him a chance, ok? The goofballs grow on you, trust me." Sakura smiled and laughed, feeling better.

"Thanks, Rin."

"Anytime. Have you thought about how you're gonna prepare for tomorrow?"

The question caught her off-guard. "Prepare?"

She could practically hear Rin think 'uh-oh'. "You didn't think Kakashi was going to give you a paper test tomorrow, did you? It's a practical exercise."

She had a horrible sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, and it must have showed.

"Why don't you tell your parents you won't be home for dinner tonight, and I'll wait for you at the training field?"

She took off running without hesitation. "Thank you!" She called back, to where Rin was standing, watching her with an amused expression.

* * *

Naruto dropped to the ground, exhausted. Kunai and shuriken littered the ground around the training post, as many or more jammed in the wood.

"Ahhh…man…" He shook himself slightly, catching his breath. "This sucks…"

"What a winning attitude."

"GAH!" He jumped to his feet, lost his balance, and fell on his butt, his head bumping against Kakashi's legs. He looked up into Kakashi's amused eye.

"You're evil."

"And you're not paying attention to your surroundings." Kakashi stepped back and offered Naruto a hand up, which he accepted, dusting himself off.

"Thanks." Kakashi walked over and sat down on a nearby bench, motioning for Naruto to join him.

"Sorry about earlier," Naruto mumbled, sitting down next to him.

"I'd say we're even, so don't worry about it." Kakashi's tone was light, and he ruffled Naruto's hair affectionately. The blonde recoiled slightly, as he normally did, hands reflexively reaching up to swat Kakashi's away.

"At least you didn't do that in front of the others…" He muttered, lowering his hands and glancing over.

"Of course not. But it's good to know you don't want me to," Naruto stared at him, and Kakashi elaborated. "It means I can blackmail you."

"Hey!"

"Kidding, Naruto. You were one of my squad members there, but there's no Sensei here." Naruto smiled, and relaxed. He hadn't seen anywhere near as much of Kakashi as he had of Obito and Rin-Kakashi was always out on a mission, or resting after one-but the odd day here and there Kakashi had time with him stood out in his memory.

"Was there anything you wanted to talk about?"

"Well, I was going to ask why you were abusing the poor training log."

Naruto felt himself turn red. "What are you talking about? I was training!"

"You were dulling those weapons, is what you were doing. Standing 10 feet away from a log and furiously throwing kunai is barely training your arm muscles, let alone aim. Why didn't you ask someone to train with you? You have squad mates now."

Naruto looked down. "Like either of them would want to train with me." He felt Kakashi rest a hand on his shoulder.

"Did you ask?"

"What's the point?"

"Because you're their squad mate too, Naruto." He looked up at Kakashi, trying to hide the small kernel of hope he felt. "Sure, Sasuke's standoffish, but I'm sure he wishes he was training with you right now."

"Huh? Why?"

He could tell Kakashi was smiling under his mask. "Because he's stuck with Obito."

It took a second, and then Naruto started to laugh.

"You're right-he's way worse!" Kakashi wasn't laughing, but he patted Naruto on the back.

"What about Sakura?" Naruto asked, his laughter dying down.

"Well, I didn't look too closely, but I think Rin's teaching her how to use explosives."

"Rin's teaching her how to what now?"

"It's part of the reason I'm here. I was worried you'd feel left out."

Naruto laughed a little, and then went quiet, thinking.

"What is it?" Kakashi asked, worried by the serious expression on Naruto's face.

The young Shinobi put a hand over his stomach, not looking at Kakashi.

"Everything since-You all knew, right? So...so did you only ever hang around me because...because you had to?"

"No." There was no pause or hesitation, and Naruto looked up at him in surprise.

"I can understand where the questions coming from, and in fairness, there was and is a general order for Jounin to keep an eye on you, but they all do it from a distance. Rin is kept in the village because of her Jinchuriki status too. You think she'd just leave you alone?" He ruffled Naruto's hair again, and the boy ducked his head, grinning. "Obito's assignment is to guard her, and they dragged me around at first. But we all looked after you because we cared about you."

"...Thanks."

"Anytime. Now, about training, why don't we-" He stopped talking, head jerking toward the forest.

"Kakashi?"

"Make a shadow clone and leave it here," Kakashi whispered, planting a hand over Naruto's mouth to silence any further questions. "And be very quiet."

* * *

Sasuke crashed into the ground and slid several feet before using the momentum as he jumped to his feet, furious. He rushed forward, but Obito merely sidestepped, grabbing his wrist and throwing him up and away. He spun uncontrollably for a second, before managing to get his feet between himself and the tree he'd been thrown at, rebounding toward Obito with his arm drawn back to punch. Obito swayed to the side, seizing Sasuke's collar and swinging up into the air again, before dropping him to the ground with a gentleness that only served to further piss Sasuke off.

"Come on, genius boy, put some thought into your attacks!"

Sasuke growled and jumped back, bringing his hands together.

" _Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!_ "

The fireball lit up the practice field, traveling across the clearing and exploding right before the treeline. He felt a hand on the back of his head, but before he could say anything, he was shoved down, hard, his face being pushed into the dirt. There was a flurry of movement above him, the clang of metal-on-metal, a horrible, sickly gasp, and the sensation of something wet hitting his cheek.

"Close your eyes." It was Obito's voice, gentle, and with some quality in it that Sasuke couldn't quite identify.

He did as he was bade, not really thinking, and felt himself being carried away from the training field. They were only moving for a few seconds before dropping down into a small clearing.

"Stay here and keep quiet until one of us comes to get you." Sasuke opened his eyes as Obito disappeared, to find he shared the clearing with Naruto and Sakura. Both of them were very pale, and apparently on reflex, Sakura reached out and wiped his cheek. Her fingers came away red. She stared at them for a second, before wordlessly curling up in a ball and staring at the ground.

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a look.

"Did you-did you...see anything?" The blonde asked hesitantly. "Kakashi just led me here and told me to be quiet."

Sasuke shook his head. "I didn't know anything was happening until it was over."

They could a distant clang, and then a second, and then nothing. Several minutes passed before there was a rustle in the trees, and Rin dropped down into their clearing. Wordlessly, she beckoned for them to follow, and picked up Sakura, before leading them through the trees.

Sakura wasn't sure how long they walked, but guessed it had been close to an hour, the sun now hanging low in the sky when they broke from the treeline to a small clearing with a cabin.

"A safe house?" She asked. Rin had let her down not long after they'd left their little clearing.

"Probably unnecessary," Rin answered, nodding her head to confirm what Sakura had said. "But there's protocol to follow. You'll be spending the night."

"What about my parents?" Sakura asked hesitantly.

"They won't be told. Think of something."

"But-"

"There's food in the back. And a stream nearby. If you need to get water, you go together. We'll be nearby." Rin shepherded them inside without another word, and the door closed with a loud crack. They turned away from the door and looked around. There was a small table, a fireplace, and a cleared space presumably for sleeping. Sakura went over and sat at the table. Naruto rifled through the few cupboards, and Sasuke paced around the cabin slowly.

"There is some water here." Naruto's voice was oddly loud in the silent, dusty cabin. Sakura could barely keep herself from jumping. "It's sealed though."

"I know the counter-seal," Sakura said, beckoning him over.

"Thanks. I always get them mixed up." She wanted to say  _I know_ , but held her tongue. Now wasn't the time to go picking on him. She released the seal on the pitcher, and poured it into the cups Naruto had grabbed.

"Are you thirsty, Sasuke?" She asked, shyly. She was ready for him to explode, to insist on leaving, or make some comment on how she was bothering him. The Sasuke she'd seen earlier today was very different from the one she'd known before. Angry, and brooding, and having lost that strange, mystical quality that had always enthralled her. Maybe it was because of Obito, or shock from what had just happened, but Sasuke more resembled a bomb to her now, just waiting to be activated.

To her surprise, though, he just walked over and accepted the cup, pulling back the third and only chair and sitting across from them. She and Naruto exchanged a surprised look, before focusing on their drinks when Sasuke looked up.

"I didn't even notice them," Sakura's head jerked up in surprise. She'd never heard Sasuke start a conversation. "We were sparring, and then all of a sudden…" He trailed off, sounding frustrated.

"Kakashi and I were just talking, and then he was leading me off into the woods," Naruto said. "I didn't even understand what was happening until you two showed up, and…" his hand unconsciously raised to his cheek, before he noticed and grabbed his drink again, sloshing some water out onto the table. "...and then we heard fighting."

There was another moment of quiet, and then Sakura realized they were both watching her.

"What?"

"What happened to the two of you?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, oh, right. It wasn't that different from you. We hadn't actually started practicing, she was just showing me some tricks for weapons."

"And bombs?"

"Well, paper bombs, yeah. And-wait, how did you…?"

"Kakashi told me." Naruto abruptly jumped in his chair, before turning to glare at Sasuke.

"Don't interrupt her." Sasuke growled, before Naruto could say anything. The Blonde's face went red, and he looked down at the table.

Had this been any other situation, she would have struggled to resist jumping for joy at Sasuke defending her. The subdued air was getting to her.

"Anyway, we made a couple of clones, and she used some Genjutsu to hide us from sight. But she dropped it when we were in the forest. Some guys jumped down out of a tree and...it-it was really fast. I didn't even really see it. I just knew what had happened." She looked down at the table. "I hope everyone's alright."

"Don't worry! They're the best!" Naruto assured her, grinning. "Real professionals!"

* * *

"I'm going to kill him! I'm going to take a kunai, and shove it up his-"

"Obito!" Rin snapped as she entered the room. "We don't know it was him!"

"Oh, who else do we know that is so eloquent they send a message via armed, murderous thug!?"

Rin sighed and looked over at Kakashi. " _Do_  we know?"

Kakashi held up a note. "We do. I doubt the thug even knew this was on him. He had to go to some extremes for this."

"Yeah, like sending thugs to go kill some kids!"

"They were after us," Rin said. "He didn't know anyone else would be involved."

Obito turned to look at her, mouth hanging open. "You aren't defending him?"

"I would beat him into next week if he were here, but he's not! And right now, what happens next is more important." She turned away from Obito to look at Kakashi expectantly.

"It's a short list of names. No context." Obito walked over, grumbling and looked over Kakashi's shoulder.

"What? This is nonsense."

"It's an old ANBU code that-"

"YOU TAUGHT HIM A-" Both Kakashi's and Rin's fist sent Obito crashing into the ceiling, bouncing off of it and onto the ground, clouds of dust following him.

" _Quiet!_  Its an old code. The ANBU overhaul their code at least once a year. Not just little changes, a whole new set. This was already out of date when I showed him."

Obito sat up, managing to look both dazed and angry. "I could've bitten my tongue off."

"And I would've fixed it," Rin said dismissively.

"You couldn't-"

"Any ideas?" Rin asked over Obito.

"No. One of them is smudged out, like he didn't have to time to cross it out. Hard to imagine him in serious enough trouble to ask for help, let alone like this."

"Probably deep cover," Rin said, and Kakashi nodded.

"I'm not even sure he knows I'm not with the ANBU anymore. It hasn't been that long." He rubbed the back of his head. "It'll be a pain to monitor those channels without giving it away."

"How many ANBU know about Zabuza?" Obito asked, standing up.

"Ibiki helped handle the case when it first came up, with Sensei. And I'm sure ROOT knows, since Danzo's got his fingers in everything. Beyond that, it should just be us and the Hokage."

Rin's sigh echoed how they all felt. "There's nothing for it but to keep an eye out then."

Kakashi and Obito nodded in agreement.

"I'll copy down the names for you."

"The kids better be left out of it this time," Obito said darkly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gee, I wonder if Team 7 will be left out of it?


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Alright," Kakashi said, standing across from his new squad. "We put this off for a week after what happened, but today we'll be doing your exam."

"Um, Kakashi-Sensei?" Sakura asked, nervously raising her hand. "What exactly is the purpose of this exam? We graduated, didn't we?" Naruto nodded, and Sasuke remained motionless.

"You did, sure. But there's a significant gap between learning indoors and actually taking on the responsibilities of a Shinobi. Even those with the best scores sometimes fall short in actual combat."

"A-actual combat? We're just facing you, aren't we?" Naruto's face showed he clearly realized his mistake, but it was too late.

"I can see I'm not being clear enough," His voice was loud and firm. "I alone decide if you pass or fail this exam. And if you fail, you will be stripped of your headband and status as a Shinobi entirely and forever."

 _That_  got a reaction. Kakashi waited passively, watching as they all panicked. Sasuke was better at hiding it, but they were all worried.

Surprisingly, it was Sakura who collected herself first.

"What are we supposed to do?"

He pulled the two bells off his pouch and held them up. The sunlight reflected off them, and drew everyone's eyes.

"Get these bells," He said simply.

They stared at him.

"Of course, I'll be trying to stop you the whole time. If you don't come at me seriously, you won't even come close."

"But-but that's-that's not fair!" Naruto's outburst was predictable. There were only two bells, and by all appearances, only two of them could pass. He drew breath to respond, but Naruto continued. "You know how we all fight!"

He blinked. Naruto was right, of course, but he'd expected the blonde to complain about the exam, not think tactically.

"You've sparred with me and Sasuke before, and you know what Rin and Obito have helped us with! And I'm sure you've heard all about how we did at the Academy! But we don't know any of your techniques!"

The boy had grown up. He was still complaining, of course, but complaining about a real issue.

"You just said I've sparred with you, Naruto. Sakura might be at a disadvantage there, but you and Sasuke-"

"And that's another thing! You're a Jounin! You've never had to fight us seriously!"

"Naruto's right!" The blonde registered something like shock at Sakura's exclamation, and fell silent. "We can't possibly be expected to win this if you fight seriously!"

Sasuke crossed his arms, clearly thinking.

"You're not meant to defeat me outright. You're meant to retrieve these bells. You'll be pitted against more experienced and more dangerous foes all the time as a ninja. Besides, you aren't the only ones doing this exam."

"Huh? Who else?" Naruto asked.

There was an unwritten rule that they weren't supposed to tell their new squad about the bell exam. It was always meant to be presented as though there was something wrong with  _this_  particular squad. But he'd never gotten the chance to make that case, and the kids had thought out the situation fairly quickly.

" _Everyone_  else Naruto. Literally all of the other graduates, and everyone who came before you. Rin, Obito, and I had to do it."

"Oh," Naruto said, his expression starting to clear.

"Of course, most fail it."

" _What!?_ "

"We barely passed, and we were considered the most advanced students out of our class. And Obito was there, too."

The joke did nothing to lighten the mood.

"But-but that can't possibly be right!" Sakura said, red-faced. "If most people fail it, then there wouldn't be any Shinobi!"

"Well, see, that's the catch. Very few people  _pass_  the exam, but there's different ways to  _fail_  it. If you made your best attempt and just couldn't grab the bells, you'll be taking remedial classes and practice until I think you're ready. Something that is  _entirely_ up to me. But if you truly do poorly,  _then_ , well…" He shrugged. "That's the end of a very short career." He was lying through his teeth, of course. And he was rather proud of himself too, as the kids clearly believed him.

He wasn't worried, in truth. Sasuke had a loner personality, sure, but they weren't stupid. It might take them awhile to actually work together, but after what they'd been through, he was confident that they'd pass before the end of the day.

He was glad they were taking this seriously, however. He was worried, since they'd had time to prepare, that the effectiveness of the exam would be lowered. They needed to take this seriously.

"You were right about one thing," He said. "I'm a Jounin. And I've  _never_  had to take you seriously." His words were having the desired effect, at least on the boys. Sasuke looked rather offended. "But this exam is the absolute bar for entry. You aren't Shinobi-not really-without passing this. So take this seriously. Throw your weapons and your punches as though I were a real enemy out to kill you. Anything less and you'll just be swept away. Understand?"

They all exchanged a look, and nodded. Sakura untied her headband and put it around her head, mirroring the boys.

"Good." He felt the faintest sense of pride in Sakura. For all his early impressions, she was clearly taking this seriously. Though it probably had more to do with Rin than him.

The wind picked up, blowing across the training field.

"Ready?"

They tensed.

"Start."

He closed his eye for a second, and opened it. They were nowhere to be seen.

_Well, they concealed themselves wel-_

He turned and caught Naruto's wrist, throwing him over his shoulder without hesitation. The shadow clone disappeared in a puff of smoke, and 3 more dashed toward him from all directions.

_At least he went for a surprise attack._

He kicked one away, and another seized his arm. Before he could turn to throw it, Naruto-not a clone after all-seized his other arm. He flung the clone with enough force that the collision with Naruto should've gotten rid of it, but instead, the puff of smoke merely revealed a grinning Sakura, who planted her feet on Naruto's shoulder, the blonde wincing slightly, but holding firm. Sakura launched off him, pulling Kakashi's arm with her and drawing him off-balance. He heard the bells jingle, and turned to see Sasuke-who had been disguised as the third clone-lunging for the bells, kunai ready to cut the string.

Chakra blurred his movements, and he kicked Sasuke back, and dragging the other two around, seizing their arms when they attempted to release their grips, and throwing them after their teammate. Their landing kicked up a cloud of dust, but they regained their feet quickly, ready to continue.

_Did they just pass the exam?_

They charged forward, Naruto creating more Shadow Clones in an attempt to lock his movements. Wise to the trick now, Kakashi dodged and hit each clone with full force. Occasionally, he'd hit one of them for real, and would be forced to respond to a counterattack. Ninja tools were flying through the small crowd, and Kakashi was forced to parry them.

It was an application of the technique only Naruto could really have pulled off. With such vast chakra reserves, he could continue to create clones, wearing Kakashi down with sheer numbers. What was more impressive was that Sasuke could mix in with the clones easily, and that Sakura was confident enough to throw the kunai at him without fear of hitting her teammates. And it was rather annoying.

He put on a burst of speed and dashed out out of the mass of clones, turning and skidding to a halt with the small lake behind him.

"I hope you all can dodge!" He called, putting his hands together.

"He's not going to-"

" _Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!_ "

"He's going to!"

The water slammed down in the middle of the crowd, sending both of the boys flying, the clones all disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"Well, guess not." Kakashi rolled his shoulders. It hadn't been necessary, but he was pleased with their current skill levels. It always helped to have something to overcome. Sakura had disappeared into the woods, far enough away from the blast to avoid getting hit. Both of the boys were out cold.

_Well this could be a problem._

They'd worked together well enough, but if Sakura abandoned them the moment they were out of commission, she clearly wasn't too team oriented. It didn't seem in character for her, either.

 _People react in unpredictable ways under pressure._  He reminded himself. Regardless, if stress turned Sakura into a lone-wolf commando, that had to be nipped in the bud.

He took his time strolling toward the woods, no real urgency in his movement, until he reached the treeline, where, to an untrained eye, he simply vanished. Sakura and the others hadn't learned walking on water or trees. So long as he kept his movements quiet, Sakura shouldn't be able to see him.

It only took him a minute to realize she'd doubled back.

 _Good for you._  He smiled under his mask. They were shaping out to be much better than he'd initially expected. He'd give them enough time to recover. If they tried one more coordinated attack, he'd pass them on the spot.

* * *

Naruto let out a gasp and sat bolt upright, almost banging his head into Sakura.

"Watch it!" She hissed, jerking back out of the way.

"Huh? Sorry, what?" He looked around. Sasuke was moody turning a kunai over in his hand.

Sakura looked tired, but shook herself and smiled.

"Sensei knocked you two out cold. I barely got out of the way in time."

The image of the Water Dragon reared up in his head.

"I can't believe he did that…"

"He obviously aimed it so it wouldn't do any real damage," Sasuke said, not looking at them. "He was making a point. He didn't need to do it."

"Geez…" Naruto said, rubbing a sore shoulder. "He's ridiculous. How are we supposed to beat him?"

"We're going to need a good plan," Sakura said, looking concerned.

A Kunai smacked into a tree on the other side of the small clearing.

"A plan?" Sasuke's tone was derisive. "Like anything we plan will work." He stood up and slowly began walking away. "There's no point."

"Hey, where are you going?" Naruto said, jumping to his feet.

"We tried to take him down together. You saw how that worked out. I can't afford to get held up here. Next time, stay out of my way."

"Wha-"

"Are you serious!?"

Sasuke stopped, looking back, surprise clear on his face. Naruto looked at Sakura in shock.

She was standing up, looking down, her shoulders shaking. She took a deep, steadying breath, and looked up at Sasuke, determined.

"Look, I get it. You had the highest marks out of the whole class. You  _know_  you're stronger than either of us."

Naruto managed to keep his mouth shut, albeit barely.

"But how can you look at what just happened and think the solution is to...to go try it alone? That's not brave, or cool, or smart, it's just...stupid!" The last words seemed torn from her, but she didn't look down this time.

Naruto was in awe. Sakura usually led the pack of girls who chased after and drooled over Sasuke. She'd been ecstatic to be on his team. Yet here she was, standing up to him. A small part of him wanted to jump in, to side with Sakura, or to insist that  _they_ didn't need  _him_ , but he'd spent a lot of time with Rin. He wasn't  _that_  stupid.

Sasuke seemed to have a similar reaction, caught off-guard by Sakura's outburst.

"I…"

"Look," Sakura said, attempting to make peace. "You know what Naruto and I can do. So does Sensei. If you've got some kind of trick up your sleeve, than we can try to get you an opening."

Sasuke crossed his arms, frowning.

"Just tell us what to do," Sakura said weakly. "I'm not…" She hesitated. "We aren't useless. We can fight too."

* * *

Hiruzen laid back in his chair, smiling. He normally didn't have time to watch each exam, but he'd cleared the afternoon. He'd thought this one would be special, and he'd been right.

Sakura had grown a remarkable amount in the past few days, with the kind of speed that was only possible at their age. She'd gotten a real taste of what being a Shinobi was like, and found her spine. She'd been training constantly over the few days they'd had, asking Rin for help whenever possible.

He wasn't sure it was entirely professional to let Rin and Obito help Kakashi's squad, but for the time being, he didn't mind. Barring them from helping would've been harsh, especially to Naruto. He'd never told anyone about Rin helping Naruto with his chakra control. Neither of them had ever mentioned it, and Iruka understood enough not to bring it up. It would frighten those who knew of Rin's identity. Danzo certainly knew, as he made it his business to keep tabs on the Jinchuriki, but the others elders might be frightened by the idea of the Jinchuriki "colluding".

He refocused on the crystal. Rin and Obito were well concealed, a distance from the clearing, waiting for the three to re-emerge. Kakashi, evidently also choosing to wait, was resting against a tree, one knee drawn back, reading.

He'd always wondered how much attention Kakashi was paying to the book whenever he pulled this trick. He was confident the man had read the whole thing before, and couldn't decide whether he was actually reading it, or just pretending to, his senses alert.

After all, Kakashi could easily be called overconfident, but he'd  _never_  pull this trick if he knew his Hokage was watching.

* * *

Kakashi didn't look up from his book as Sasuke approached.

"No sneaking?"

"What's the point?"

"I suppose that's fair. Still, you could've tried." He stood up and snapped the book closed, tucking it into his bag. They'd surprised him once today. He didn't want them to damage the book. "So, where are the others?"

"I don't need their help."

Kakashi held up a hand, seizing the nearly invisible wire before Sakura could draw it tight. He could hear a sigh above him.

"So did Rin just take you ninja tool shopping or…"

"Not...really," Sakura didn't bother to conceal herself, moving into view. "She just gave me some of her stuff, and then I think she went shopping on her own, to replace it."

"That's sensible," He said cheerily. "What's wrong Sasuke? Not gonna set fire to the tree?"

"I might, just for the stress relief," The Uchiha grumbled. "Not gonna hit you with anything."

"Well that's just depressing. Didn't you guys plan before coming out here?"

"We came up with lots of plans," Sakura said defensively, shifting so she could sit comfortably on a tree branch. "They just all ran into the same problem."

"Me?"

"Yes you! You're one of the most capable Shinobi in the entire village, if not the world! It's not about us! If this were a real mission, we would retreat, even if it was really important. But we aren't allowed to!"

Sasuke crossed his arms, clearly in agreement. "You set up a situation in which we were fundamentally disadvantaged. I may not like it, but we can't possibly beat you in a fair fight, and we can't really make the fight unfair, at least in our favor. It's a no-win scenario."

"You might face some of those in time, but I guess I see your point. After all, it's not really possible to recreate the kind of threat you would experience in those scenarios, that would drive you to do things like-"

"Kamikaze!" Naruto burst out of the treeline, jumping and wrapping his arms and legs around Kakashi. He could the telltale hiss of a paper bomb.

"-that."

The explosion engulfed the shadow clone and the log he'd replaced himself with. He'd only just touched the tree branch when he heard Sakura yell:

"4 O'clock!" Sasuke turned and threw the kunai he'd been 's rope had been holding had been laced with chakra, and she had been able to track which direction he'd gone.

The kunai flew wide, but the hissing noise indicated it had been meant to. He leapt into the air as the explosion engulfed the tree.

"Above!"

He looked down to see the dim outline of Naruto's jacket, and putting the pieces together, looked up, seeing another shadow clone falling to the ground as his eye met Sasuke's.

He'd used the clones as stepping stools.

Sakura and the real Naruto were on the edges of the clearing, which was covered in Shadow Clones. As he saw Sasuke's hands move, he couldn't help but feel impressed as he dropped toward the horde of clones below.

" _Katon! Goukyaku no Jutsu!"_

_Not bad, kids. Not bad._

* * *

The explosion lit up the clearing, dispelling all the Shadow Clones and kicking up a wave of dust. Naruto and Sakura shielded their eyes as Sasuke dropped to the ground. He immediately jumped away, landing near Sakura.

"Did we get him?" Naruto asked, unwilling to move closer to the smoking crater.

"I doubt it," Sasuke grunted, looking around.

"Hard to see how he could've moved out of the way," Sakura said, though she sounded like she didn't believe herself. "Hypothetically, what would happen if we incinerated our Sensei?"

"We'd get promoted?" Naruto suggested.

"More like kicked out," Sasuke said.

The ground below Naruto exploded in a cloud of dust. The blonde let out a yelp and disappeared from sight. Kakashi jumped neatly out of the cloud, landing slightly to the right of Naruto, who's head was now the only visible part of his body, as he was buried up to his shoulders. Kakashi dusted the dirt off his jacket, looking none the worse for wear.

"You'll never find out."

"Somehow I didn't think so," Sakura said, sighing. "How?"

" _Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu,_ " Kakashi said cheerily. Naruto's head was visible by Kakashi's feet. He was buried up to his neck, but rather than be angry, he seemed to have accepted his fate, looking only mildly annoyed.

"You can use Suiton  _and_  Doton?" Sasuke asked.

"And Katon and Raiton."

"Of...course you can." Sasuke stuffed his hands in his pockets, moodily kicking at a rock.

"That  _was_  pretty good though," Kakashi said. "You honestly fooled me at the beginning there. What was that trick with the wire, Sakura?"

"Oh, it wasn't a wire. It was just pulled as tight as I could when you grabbed it."

"So just a Chakra thread them?" They were used cut and various lengths, and had chakra worked in when they were made. They had a variety of uses, mostly involved in making paper seals or setting some of those seals off.

"Yeah. We figured you'd use substitution and whichever way you broke the thread would be the way you went. I know it wasn't perfect, but I thought it was our best chance."

" _You_  thought?" Kakashi asked, curiously.

"Well…" Sakura hesitated, and then Sasuke spoke up.

"We all came up with the plan," He said, not looking at any of them. "Sakura came up with most of it," The girl flushed a deep red and turned away, looking a great deal more like herself than she had during the exercise. If Sasuke noticed, he gave no sign, finally looking at Kakashi with a faint smirk.

"Even Naruto."

"Oh?" Kakashi squatted down, amused. He still didn't let his guard down, but sensed the fight was done. "And what did our favorite knucklehead contribute?"

"He remembered I had paper bombs," Sakura's face was red for a different reason this time. "I had honestly forgotten."

"Why did you know?" Kakashi asked, looking down.

"You mentioned Rin showing them to her," He said. "I just...remembered."

"That really scared you when you found out, didn't it?" Given Sakura's behavior around the blonde, Kakashi couldn't entirely fault him. Sakura turned away, her face in her hands.

Satisfied, Kakashi reached down and gripped the back of Naruto's jacket.

"Please don't-"

He pulled up, hard, freeing Naruto in a showed of dirt and small rocks. He set the boy down next to the hole, dusting his shoulder off and stepping away.

" _There are rocks where rocks shouldn't be,"_  The blonde whispered, but Kakashi elected to ignore him.

"Well, congrats to you all. You pass."

"Wha-really!?" Sakura asked, clapping her hands together. Naruto looked startled, though pleased, and even Sasuke had a ghost of a smile on his face.

"But we lost. Badly," Naruto said. "You buried me alive."

"I also knocked you out cold," Kakashi pointed out. "But that's beside the point. Even if this was purely a combat exam, I still would've passed you all. You and Sasuke were at the top of your game, and Sakura," He turned to look at her. "You surprised me quite a bit. I more or less had the measure of these two's skill level but you performed much better than your test scores led me to expect." She looked close to fainting, but in a good way. "Having said that, this wasn't just a combat test. The purpose of this exam is to test your teamwork. If you three weren't capable of working together to go after a high-level target, we really  _wouldn't_  trust you out on missions."

He could see they understood, more or less.

"So, wait…" Naruto frowned, walking over to his squadmates. "Does that mean we passed right away? I mean, we all worked together then."

"I suppose you did," Kakashi said. "But all of you just jumping me in a mob isn't the same as actually coming up with a plan. The exam is still passed or failed at my discretion. I wanted another example of you working together." He smiled under his mask. "And I got it."

The three began to turn to each other and celebrate, congratulating themselves on a job well done.

Kakashi stood up straight and put his hands behind his back, feeling a little formality was in order.

"Naruto! Sasuke! Sakura!" They jumped and stood to attention, focusing on him. "You were placed in a difficult scenario, with no clear path to your objective, and with victory unlikely. Despite this, you analyzed the situation, fought to the best of your abilities, and did everything in your power to achieve victory. Today, you acted like real Shinobi, and today, you earned those headbands."

This time, he allowed them to celebrate. They'd done well, and they deserved to know it.

Still…

"Alright you three, get it out of your system. We've still got a whole day of work ahead."

"Ha ha...wait, what?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi could feel a smile stretching across his face, and Naruto, at least, could tell.

"Well, I can't praise you  _and_  give you the day off, can I?"

"Yes you can!" Naruto said quickly, and he pretended to consider it.

"I suppose I  _could_...but I'm not going to."

"...damn it," Naruto muttered, closing his eyes.

* * *

"One of the bridge builders got out."

The clink of a glass getting set down. A cigarette lighting up. Then a response.

"Who was supposed to be watching the road he took?"

The watchman swallowed nervously. "We don't think he took a road. He took a boat, right from the bridge itself."

Another pause.

"No one was watching...the actual bridge?"

"N-no one was assigned to, sir."

A growl of frustration entered the boss's voice. "He'll make it to the village before anyone can catch up to him."

Before the watchman could respond, there was a loud crack, and they turned to see a long, iron sword in the ground.

"Won't matter if he never makes it back here." The owner of the sword said, voice neutral.

Slowly, the boss smiled.

"You make an excellent point."

**Author's Note:**

> A) I don't own rights to any of the characters, B) This is un-beta'd and C) Cross-posted on my FF.net account.


End file.
